Two dead bodies have been found in the landing gear compartment of a JetBlue aircraft in South Florida, local authorities have confirmed.
The bodies were discovered on the night of January 7, 2025, during a post-flight maintenance check after the aircraft landed at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL).
“This is a heartbreaking situation, and we are committed to working closely with authorities to support their efforts to understand how this occurred,” JetBlue said in a statement seen by CNN.
The airline reported that the aircraft most recently operated as Flight 1801 from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York. The Airbus A320 registered N644JB, departed from JFK Airport at 19:49 local time on January 6, 2025, and arrived at FLL Airport at 23:10 local time, according to data from FlightAware.
Earlier that day, the aircraft started out with a journey from Norman Manley International Airport (KIN) in Kingston, Jamaica. It took off at 01:10 local time and arrived at JFK Airport at 04:48 local time before heading to Salt Lake City at 07:26 local time. The next flight returned to JFK Airport.
The passengers from the flight had already left the aircraft when the bodies were found. The bodies were reportedly badly decomposed. The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office will perform autopsies to discover the exact cause of death. For now, the Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) will be investigating the incident.
Authorities have not confirmed whether the deceased were stowaways or if they ended up in the compartment in another way, according to local media reports.
For the time being, “the circumstances surrounding how they accessed the aircraft remain under investigation”, JetBlue told CNN.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is collaborating with the airline, the airport, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and law enforcement officials to complete their investigation.