It is thought José Matada fell from the plane as its undercarriage opened for its descent into Heathrow airport. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images
A young man whose body was found on a pavement in west London almost certainly died after stowing away inside the landing gear of a British Airways flight from Angola in a desperate attempt to make a new life in the UK, an inquest has heard.

José Matada was either dead or at the point of death due to hypothermia and lack of oxygen when he fell from the plane as its undercarriage opened for its descent into Heathrow airport, west London coroners court was told.

He died on his 26th birthday, with a single pound coin in his pocket, as well as currency from Botswana. He is believed to have originally come from Mozambique, but authorities have been unable to trace any family or official confirmation of his identity.

His body was found on the pavement of Portman Avenue, in East Sheen, an affluent west London suburb, shortly before 7.45am on 9 September last year, just after flight BA76 from Luanda, the Angolan capital, passed overhead.

Matada, usually known as Youssoup, was only identified after analysis from an Angolan mobile phone sim card found in a pocket. This showed he had been exchanging text messages with an Anglo-Swiss woman for whom he had formerly worked.

The woman, now based in Switzerland and identified only as Hunt, said Matada had worked for her family as a housekeeper and gardener when they lived in South Africa in 2010. She correctly described a distinctive tattoo on his left arm, matching that on the body found in west London.

Giving evidence, Robert Chapman, a Home Office-registered consultant forensic pathologist who examined Matada's body, said that while the stowaway was only wearing light clothes he seemed to have survived the bulk of the 12-hour trip from the south Atlantic coast of Africa through being young and very fit, though low oxygen levels and temperatures of down to -60C in the unpressurised wheel recess of the Boeing 777 would have left him unconscious.

"In my view he was either very close to the point of death or, indeed, dead when he struck the ground," Chapman said. He described Matada's long list of injuries, which appeared consistent with a fall from a great height.

Detective Sergeant Jeremy Allsup, who led the Metropolitan police investigation, said the text messages Matada exchanged with his former employer involved a discussion of him "travelling to Europe for a better life", although there was no reason to think she knew his plans.

Homicide detectives had ruled out foul play, Allsup said, and the timings strongly indicated Matada had been on the Luanda flight. This landed at Heathrow at 7.45am, three minutes after a resident in Portman Avenue heard a thud outside.

The coroner, Sean Cummings, recorded a verdict of accidental death. He said: "This sort of travel is not very common but I'm surprised by the numbers."

Such cases are not unknown. Just two weeks before Matada's case the body of another man was found inside a plane after it landed from Cape Town, raising worries about security. BA says this is the responsibility of the airports concerned, not the carrier.

In 2001, a stowaway from Pakistan fell into the car park of a Homebase store, not far from East Sheen. While that man's family was traced, the only information about Matada appears to come from his former employer. Aside from the media the brief inquest was attended by just four people.

A spokesman for the Mozambican high commission in London said authorities in the country made a radio and newspaper appeal for family and friends but received no replies. The only information about Matada's origins came from the former employer, he said: "Of course, the police think the lady is honest and telling the truth, but this story has come from Mr Matada, and he has told something that can't be verified – it was Mr Matada that told her he was originally from Mozambique."

BA operates two flights a week from Luanda, mainly carrying oil workers and Angolan students. The aircraft lands in Luanda at 5am and sits on the tarmac until the return at midnight, giving potential stowaways time and the cover of darkness.

Records collated by the US Federal Aviation Administration suggest that at best one in four stowaways survives, but many others die or fall in transit. Survivors rarely escape unscathed – frostbite claims limbs. Among the few who did live was a Romanian on a Vienna to Heathrow flight in 2010, but he was in the air for only an hour at an unusually low altitude.

He is a potential terrorist indeed. God, wat was he tinking? D fact dat he was able to tink and come out wit d conclusion of sharing dat little space wit d tyres, den he shuld b interrogated cos left to me, there is more to wat he did and wat he is saying.

poor boy,Nigeria don tired the chap as young as he is.......then what should people like nairalanders do/

*walks in silently. Planted a bomb. Waitin for d bomb to kill us all*

If 2 say that plane de go yankee.. Walai, the boy don hammer.

But, can he really endure the long hours trip to the states under that belly without losing his life is a 1 million dollar question.

He think say the plane dey go AmeRIKa when he saw Arik...sharp guy!!!

Fhemmmy: This is really serious to know that people could be this tired of the nation as to endanger his life . . . I hope all goes well for him

The boy should be given an award for showing us how porous the Nigeria Airport Security is!

Make dm leave d poor boi jawe.... Una see am wit bomb

Burger01: Thank God the flight wasn't going to the US. If it were i doubt if the boy would make it over the Atlantic..

Don't worry, he will board the right flight next time.

ghettodreamz: If 2 say that plane de go yankee.. Walai, the boy don hammer.

But, can he really endure the long hours trip to the states under that belly without losing his life is a 1 million dollar question.

wrong qstn, shay breeze knw go blow am trowey

here is a boy trying to survive cos of maltreatment frm home as said ny the anonymous person and the Nigeria security are showing that they are good at their work by transfering for him for verification.
he is just a future 007...benin and abroad.

Wow! Finally i've made it to Nairaland Forum ;DWow! Finally i've made it to Nairaland Forum

I dont think he was being maltreated.

His parents must've just scolded him or beaten him for something and the fellow just decides to leave home over that.

If his parents didnt care for him, they would not have walked all the way to Lagos in search of him.

The boy must be really naughty to even attempt this whole thing.

anyways sha, now hes gonna get the beating of his life from his parents.

OUR AIRPORT SECURITY SYSTEMS & PERSONNEL YAB! ARE THERE NO CCTVs COVERING ALL AREAS OF THE AIRPORT?

du.mb-a.s.s

See talent.if they see this type of boy now in america they will utilise this opportunity in their hands.

i honestly don't like the way that fellow is dragging on that kid

johnstar: wrong qstn, shay breeze knw go blow am trowey

Breeze no blow from Benin to Lagos?

Well, considering the long distance from Naija to Yankee, I doubt the chance of him making it. With the air intensity and turbulence, several conditions of the atmosphere above variant sea-level and other adverse climatic changes up there. Na DOA hin body go be, if he eventually make it to the states soulless.

Hmm... Na wa o

No matter how we try to justify his action. The trueth remains that there is criminal tendencies in him and he need to be catch young b/4 he developd as a terorist. To commend him is to encourage other younger ones to comit crime. He needs to be rehablitated. "A stitch in time saves nine".

Chillisauce: He is just lucky to be alive. Benin,.lagos should be 25 mins.,.

Woe betide him if the plane was US bound

First of all Benin isn't an int'l airport, and planes bound for US usually hv stops, maybe in europe. Anyway, he's a kid. What does he knw

Suicide mission he is lucky its not a US bound plane


• Desperate man sneaks into Delta Airline plane’s tyre
compartment with the aim to be smuggled into the US, but
arrives
Atlanta as mangled dead body
By CHIOMA IGBOKWE




Saturday, April 17, 2010

The family of a Nigerian, who wanted to play James Bond and perhaps, shock the world with his plan, is currently gnashing its teeth,
as the venture has ended in tragedy.

Saturday Sun gathered that a young
Nigerian, Mr.
Emeka Okechukwu Okeke, recently wanted to do the
impossible by smuggling
himself into the United States, but ended up arriving not
only in
body bag but also as mangled body.

Impeccable sources at the Murtala Muhammed International,
Lagos,
revealed that Okeke had beaten all security at the
airport, traced
his way to the tarmac and sneaked into the tyre
compartment of a
Delta Airline’s plane scheduled to depart for Atlanta,
United
States.

It was gathered that the plane had departed Lagos, without
Okeke
being detected, and safely arrived Atlanta. Ground staff
of the
airline, in the United States, were said to have
discovered pieces
of flesh and blood smear on one of the tyres of the plane
and raised
an alarm.
A check on the plane revealed the mangled body of Okeke in
one of
the tyre compartments of the aircraft. The check also
revealed a
bag and a mobile phone on what remained of the body of the
young
man.
Saturday Sun gathered that shocked
officials of
Delta Airlines, in the US, had put on the mobile phone and
scrolled
through the numbers. To find out the identity of the man,
they were
said to have called the last number dialed and made
inquiries. The
man, who received the call, was said to have revealed that
the owner
of the phone had travelled to the United States.

Delta Airlines officials in the United States had
transferred the
case to Nigeria, where it was discovered that Okeke, who
is married,
had confided in some of his friends and relatives that he
was travelling
to the United States on the night he sneaked into the tyre
compartment
of the aircraft. His family has been contacted and its
members have
identified the corpse of Okeke.

According to our source, Okeke is from Anambra and had
tried unsuccessfully
for years to get a visa to America. Owing to desperation,
he decided
to embark on the risky venture, which eventually claimed
his life.
Although, he told his family that he was travelling to US,
he never
revealed that he was going to sneak into the tyre
compartment of
the aircraft.

According to our source, Okeke colluded with airport
officials to
gain access to the tarmac, before finding his way to the
plane in
the dark. He was said to have wrapped himself in a
blanket, not
knowing that the aircraft tyres would get to where he was
and kill
him.

Meanwhile, Delta Airline staffers, who guarded the plane
at the
airport on the day the incident happened, have been
arrested by
the police, to explain how Okeke sneaked into the tyre
compartment
of the plane.
Saturday Sun gathered that Delta Airline
has a
security policy, whereby its plane at the Murtala Muhammed
International
Airport, is guarded from the time it arrives Nigeria, in
the afternoon,
till when it departs with passengers in the night.

With such security arrangement, the airline is, therefore,
shocked
that somebody could have access to the plane undetected
and embarked
on a suicide mission, which has caused the airline a
scandal.
The police at the airport command are currently battling
to find
out how security was breached at the airport that day.

An airport official, who pleaded for anonymity, told Saturday

Sun, that many people had been smuggled out of
the country
by sneaking into aircraft.

The source said: “That route is for people who have guts
and
all efforts to leave Nigeria have failed. The man has bad
luck;
it is not his destiny to leave Nigeria. Maybe he did not
follow
the instructions given to him on how to survive under
there. This
is not the first time people are sneaking out of Nigeria
through
that means. Sometime last year a woman travelled through
that means
and arrived safely.
“If this man arrived safely, we would not be talking about

this. He was careless with his life. Now innocent staff of
the airline
are going to suffer for his mistake. Those who guarded the
plane
that night were arrested.”

The racket at the airport
The question being asked by people is, how possible is it that somebody
would gain access to the tarmac undetected, considering
the tight
security in the airport? Our source explained that such
illegal
movement is being coordinated by a syndicate at the
airport, which
also works with airlines’ workers.
It was gathered that people who need such services pay as
much as
N800,000. They tutored on how to survive in the aircraft
compartment.
For one, it was learnt that they are given blankets and
winter clothes
with which they would keep warn while the plane is in
flight across
the Atlantic.
In the country of destination, the illegal immigrants are
received
by agents in the syndicate, who smuggle them into the
country.

Our source blamed the level of corruption at the airport
on poor
working condition, alleging that some of staff are paid
N30, 000
monthly.

“In this present day, how can one survive with such an
amount
of money? We have to survive; that is why there can never
be a cure
for the level of corruption at the airport. There is
nothing like
absolute security; the people at the helm of affairs
smuggle things
into the plane also, despite their fat allowance,” an
airport
worker said.
When contacted, officials of Delta airlines refused to
comment.
However, a policeman at the airport command confirmed the
incident
and said investigation was going on.
[/quote]

Na two of us wan go together. I tell am make e wait for me, e nor hear. Just landed @ heathrow airport london. Ihikena sorry en. Nor worry wen maga pay i go surely remember you.

but wait oooy we go blame dis boi...him don watch American movie finish,america don d hungry am...lolz

but wait ooo y we go blame dis boi...him don watch American movie finish,america don d hungry am...lolz

But why is that overzealous officer manhandling a poor, hapless boy?