A 13-year-old Afghan boy miraculously survived hiding inside the wheel well of a Kam Air flight from Kabul to Delhi, before being discovered by ground staff in India and deported back to Kabul.
The boy, reportedly desperate to escape poverty and social restrictions, endured the perilous 94-minute journey in the aircraft’s landing gear compartment — a feat aviation experts say is almost always fatal. He is believed to have intended to reach Iran but mistakenly boarded the Kabul–Delhi flight.
The incident took place on Sunday aboard Kam Air flight RQ-4401. The Airbus aircraft departed Kabul at 8:46 a.m. and landed safely at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport at 10:20 a.m. After landing, staff discovered the teenager near Terminal 3 and immediately handed him over to Indian airport police.
According to airline sources, the boy had traveled from Kunduz to Kabul before sneaking into the aircraft under cover of night. He was found carrying cigarettes and a lighter. Indian officials confirmed he was in stable condition and, due to his age, exempt from prosecution. He was later placed on a return flight to Kabul.
Aviation security specialists have raised alarms over how the boy managed to breach multiple security layers at Kabul International Airport and access the aircraft unnoticed. They noted that survival in such conditions is exceedingly rare, with most stowaways dying from oxygen deprivation or sub-zero temperatures at cruising altitude. Globally, fewer than one in five stowaway attempts end in survival.
While experts described the boy’s survival as “miraculous,” they also underscored its symbolic weight: a stark reminder of Afghanistan’s worsening humanitarian and economic crisis. Since the Taliban’s return to power, poverty, unemployment, and harsh restrictions — particularly on women and youth — have deepened despair, fueling a wave of irregular migration.
Many young Afghans, like this boy, undertake desperate and dangerous journeys, risking suffocation, drowning, or imprisonment in search of freedom and survival. His case reflects not only a glaring lapse in airport security but also the growing hopelessness gripping Afghanistan’s younger generation.
Observers warn that without meaningful international engagement and the establishment of an inclusive, representative government in Afghanistan, such tragic attempts to flee the country will continue to rise.
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