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Special delivery: Stowaway ships self in cargo crate
Federal agents say they are investigating how a man succeeded in stowing away in a cargo plane on a flight from New York to Dallas by shipping himself in a wooden crate. After hours of traveling, Charles McKinley, 25, of New York City, pried open the crate with a crowbar Saturday morning, authorities said. He popped up outside his parentsâ doorstep in suburban DeSoto, shook the hand of a shocked deliveryman and walked away. The deliveryman called DeSoto police, who arrested him on outstanding Texas warrants. McKinley has not been charged with a crime. The FBI and the Transportation Security Administration are investigating. "Itâs amazing that the gentleman survived. Itâs absolutely a bizarre case," said FBI Special Agent Lori Bailey, a spokeswoman for the Dallas field office. "Our concern at this point is to determine how this was done." Officials said McKinleyâs crate was put aboard a pressurized Boeing 727 operated by Indiana-based Kitty Hawk Cargo from Kennedy International to Fort Wayne, Ind. The crate was transferred to a second plane bound for Dallas-Fort Worth International. A ground shipping company picked up the crate and delivered it to the residence of McKinleyâs parents. McKinley spent at least half a day in the crate and broke out just in time for the deliveryman to see him, authorities said. Air cargo receives less scrutiny than airline passengers in the heightened security imposed after the September 11 terror attacks. "While this is a very unusual situation, we are fully cooperating with the regulatory agencies, the shipper and other parties handling this investigation," Kim Wiemuth, a spokeswoman for Kitty Hawk Cargo, said in a statement. "Kitty Hawk Cargo followed all current cargo security procedures." If youâre sure that there is no way the servcie could get worse on US airlines, just think of this. Posted by: Frank Martin 2003-09-09 |
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