Heathrow plane stowaways were travelling together, Met says

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-34073063

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A stowaway who clung to a plane before falling to his death near Heathrow was travelling with another man who was found alive in the plane's undercarriage, the Met Police has said.

Officers said new information suggested the pair had met a "short time" before clinging to a British Airways flight from Johannesburg to Heathrow.

One man was found dead on the roof of a building in Richmond on 18 June.

The second man found on the plane was in a "critical condition" in hospital.

'Multiple injuries'

The deceased man was found on the roof of notonthehighstreet.com's headquarters on Kew Road at about 09:35 BST on 18 June.

A post-mortem examination found he had died from multiple injuries.

Police said an inquest had been opened and adjourned and officers believed they knew the identity of the deceased man, but were awaiting formal identification.

The force has been liaising with the South African authorities throughout their investigation.

British Airways previously said it was working with the authorities to "establish the facts surrounding this very rare case".

The 5,600-mile journey (9,012km) from Johannesburg to the UK usually takes about 11 hours.

There have been other cases where stowaways have fallen to their deaths after smuggling themselves onto planes and hiding in landing gear.

In September 2012, Jose Matada, 26, was found dead after falling from the undercarriage of a flight from Angola to Heathrow on to a street in Mortlake, west London.

An inquest heard he may have survived freezing temperatures of up to minus 60C (-76F) for most of the 12-hour flight, but it was believed he was "dead or nearly dead" by the time he hit the ground.