Strange but true: Getting ahead of the rest

Stowaway survives flight in aircraft wheel well

An Indonesian man took a free flight in the wheel well of an aircraft, surviving a high-altitude flight of nearly two hours in thin air and sub-zero temperatures.

Mario Stevan Ambarita, 21, was spotted staggering around the tarmac at Jakarta airport shortly after the Garuda Indonesia domestic flight from Sumatra Island landed.

He scaled a 2.5-metre fence to reach the aircraft, where he tucked himself into the rear wheel housing, media said. He collapsed after the flight and was taken to hospital with a bleeding ear and other slight injuries before spending the night in a police cell.

According to reports, Ambarita had spent up to a year studying aircraft taking off and landing had learnt from the Internet how to hide in the wheel well and had made an unsuccessful attempt in the past to stow away.