Honolulu: A teenager who defied the odds, surviving a flight from California to Hawaii tucked in a jetliner's wheel well, was disoriented, thirsty and could barely walk after the freezing, low-pressure ordeal, airport officials who reviewed video of his arrival said on Wednesday.
Security video shows the 15-year-old boy dangling his feet for about 15 seconds from the wheel well before jumping about 10 feet (3 meters) to the ground, landing on his feet and immediately collapsing on Sunday morning, Maui District Airport Manager Marvin Moniz said.
Staggering toward the front of the plane, the soft-spoken boy in a San Francisco Giants hoodie asked a ramp agent for a drink of water, setting in motion federal and local law enforcement investigations, national calls for better airport security and a flurry of speculation about how anyone could survive such a perilous trip.
He said he had been in an argument at home but couldn't remember the flight. He didn't know where he was.
"He didn't realize he was in Maui - not at all," Moniz said.
That hasn't surprised airport security experts, who say that for all the tens of billions of dollars the nation has spent on screening passengers and their bags, few airports made a comparable investment to secure the airplanes parked on the tarmac.
Aguirre said a perimeter search found no holes or crawl spaces in the barbed wire fence surrounding their 1,050 acre (424.93 hectare) facility, and officials were waiting to finish their investigation before implementing any additional security measures.
Shelby did not return calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.
The boy's father drives a taxi, Aguirre said, but she didn't know if he works at the airport.
Aviation security experts say the San Jose airport is hardly alone when it comes to weaknesses in securing its airfield.
"What happened in San Jose can happen as we speak at other airports, because nobody can watch all these monitors" that feed video from around the airport, said Rafi Ron, former head of security at the closely guarded airport in Tel Aviv, Israel who now runs a security consulting firm.
The fact that the teen survived is remarkable: At a cruising altitude of 38,000 feet (11,582 meters), temperatures in the wheel well would have been well below zero and the air so starved of oxygen that he likely passed out. In response, his body could have entered a hibernation-like state, from which he emerged once he was back on the ground, experts say.
Although he was walking after the flight, he has remained hospitalized since Sunday.
The TSA said it has spent $80 billion on aviation security since its inception shortly after the 9/11 attacks. That does not include perimeter security.
"We were investing all our resources in the front door, which were the passengers and their bags," said Ron, the security consultant. "And we left the back door open. And that was the perimeter and access to aircraft."
Security video shows the 15-year-old boy dangling his feet for about 15 seconds from the wheel well before jumping about 10 feet (3 meters) to the ground, landing on his feet and immediately collapsing on Sunday morning, Maui District Airport Manager Marvin Moniz said.
Staggering toward the front of the plane, the soft-spoken boy in a San Francisco Giants hoodie asked a ramp agent for a drink of water, setting in motion federal and local law enforcement investigations, national calls for better airport security and a flurry of speculation about how anyone could survive such a perilous trip.
He said he had been in an argument at home but couldn't remember the flight. He didn't know where he was.
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"He didn't realize he was in Maui - not at all," Moniz said.
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That hasn't surprised airport security experts, who say that for all the tens of billions of dollars the nation has spent on screening passengers and their bags, few airports made a comparable investment to secure the airplanes parked on the tarmac.
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Aguirre said a perimeter search found no holes or crawl spaces in the barbed wire fence surrounding their 1,050 acre (424.93 hectare) facility, and officials were waiting to finish their investigation before implementing any additional security measures.
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Shelby did not return calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.
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The boy's father drives a taxi, Aguirre said, but she didn't know if he works at the airport.
Aviation security experts say the San Jose airport is hardly alone when it comes to weaknesses in securing its airfield.
"What happened in San Jose can happen as we speak at other airports, because nobody can watch all these monitors" that feed video from around the airport, said Rafi Ron, former head of security at the closely guarded airport in Tel Aviv, Israel who now runs a security consulting firm.
The fact that the teen survived is remarkable: At a cruising altitude of 38,000 feet (11,582 meters), temperatures in the wheel well would have been well below zero and the air so starved of oxygen that he likely passed out. In response, his body could have entered a hibernation-like state, from which he emerged once he was back on the ground, experts say.
Although he was walking after the flight, he has remained hospitalized since Sunday.
The TSA said it has spent $80 billion on aviation security since its inception shortly after the 9/11 attacks. That does not include perimeter security.
"We were investing all our resources in the front door, which were the passengers and their bags," said Ron, the security consultant. "And we left the back door open. And that was the perimeter and access to aircraft."
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