A harrowing simulation was released on YouTube on October 28, showing the fate of two men who hid as stowaways in the wheel well of an 11-hour trip to the UK in June 2015.
The men, identified as Carlito Vale and Themba, grew up in an orphanage in Mozambique’s second city, Beira, and were determined to escape the rough conditions of their home country to seek a better life in London.
To achieve this, the pair studied aircraft designs and planned to board a British Airways flight scheduled to depart from Johannesburg by holding onto one of its wheels as it took off.
The gamble paid off, as they were successfully able to board the plane, but the men did not account for the changes in atmosphere, lack of oxygen, and cold temperatures of the metallic area they were hiding in, causing one of them to fall to his death.
YouTuber Zack D. Films recreated their ordeal in gruesome detail, and it has gone viral, with more than 23 million views since its upload.
A horrifying simulation recreated what happened to two men who hid inside an airplane’s wheel well during an 11-hour flight to London
“As the plane ascended, the temperature dropped to minus 60 degrees, and oxygen levels became dangerously low, causing both to pass out,” the video explains. It then shows, via 3D models, how the men managed to climb into the plane’s wheel well before takeoff.
“One of the men fell from the plane to his death, but the other man somehow managed to hang on to the iron bars in the wheel well,” the clip continues, showing how upon arriving in London, the surviving man, Themba—who now goes by the name Justin—was thrown off the plane in a 20-foot fall, shattering one of his legs.
In a 2021 interview with The Guardian, Justin recounted the before-and-after of his daring gamble alongside his friend.
“He said: ‘We made it,’ and then I passed out with the lack of oxygen,” he said, referring to his friend Carlito, who, as the simulation shows, slipped through the opening in the wheel well mid-flight, causing him to fall 1400 feet to his death.
Justin was spared the fate of his friend due to becoming tangled in the wires surrounding the wheel, leaving burn marks on his arms and torso
Carlito’s fall made headlines in the UK after his body was found on a roof on June 19, 2015, as the plane approached the London Heathrow Airport.
Reports stated that the plane was a Boeing 747, corresponding to British Airways Flight 54, which departed from Johannesburg on Thursday night and arrived in London at 7:26 in the morning.
Speculation at the time said that Justin and his friend had received inside help to gain entry to the airport. Still, he is adamant that they did everything independently, jumping over security fences and putting on layers of clothing in preparation.
Interestingly, Justin’s account differs from what was shown in the YouTube video, as he showed the severe burns he sustained on his arms and torso due to becoming tangled in the wheel well’s cabling, which he said was what prevented him from falling.
The viral clip, on the other hand, shows the man fully awake and desperately holding on to the iron bars of the wheel. In the interview, Justin explained how he slipped in and out of consciousness, only becoming fully awake once he was already lying on the London runway with his leg broken.
The survivor is now living in Liverpool but stated that he still struggles with survivor’s guilt years after the tragic incident
Justin confessed to The Guardian that he suffers from some survivor’s guilt to this day, fondly remembering the conversations he had with his friend Carlito before the incident.
“He said that he wanted to be a DJ and that he was going to return and get his daughter after a few years,” he recalled. “I wished the best for him, and so I thought it was a good idea for us because we were looking for a better future.”
Upon waking up in a hospital bed, London police approached Justin to show him a photograph of Carlito, as investigations were still underway to determine his identity.
“When the plane landed, I fell out and remembered thinking Carlito must still be in it,” he explained. “But then later they showed me the passport and said: ‘Do you know this guy?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ They told me he didn’t make it, and I was shocked.”
Justin has lived in Liverpool ever since. The 2021 TV Special The Man Who Fell From The Sky covered his and Carlito’s stories in detail.
Netizens joked about the ordeal pictured in the recreation, pointing out how lucky Justin was to have survived such adverse conditions
Image credits: Zack D. Films
“This guy survived without oxygen, didn’t freeze to death, endured -60 degrees, then didn’t die from the fall. He should have bought a lottery ticket on that day,” one user wrote.
“I mean, plane ticket prices are getting out of hand,” another laughed.
“This guy is the main character saved by infinite plot armor,” a viewer stated.
“What a tragedy! I’ve watched the full documentary… It’s a life lesson to think the grass is greener on the other side.”
“This is a nightmare.” While some viewers lamented the fate of the stowaways, others pointed out how lucky the survivor was
