Stowaway: The Polynesian 737 That Landed with Right Main Gear-Up

5W-ILF

In aviation, we design for failure. Hydraulics fail. Sensors lie. Valves stick. Crews train relentlessly for these scenarios. What aviation does not design for — at least not explicitly — was a frozen human body mechanically preventing a landing gear from deploying.

Yet in September 1994, that is exactly what happened in the South Pacific.

What followed remains one of the most unusual, sobering, and instructive gear-up landings — not because systems failed, but because they worked exactly as designed, and were still defeated by something no checklist contemplated.

A Routine Pacific Sector

In the pre-dawn hours of 13 September 1994, Polynesian Airlines Flight PH844, a Boeing 737-3Q8 (5W-ILF), departed Fua’amotu International Airport, Tonga, bound for Faleolo International Airport, Apia, on what was considered a routine regional sector.

The aircraft carried:

• ~72 passengers

• Two flight crew

• A short, familiar route frequently operated across the Pacific islands

Nothing in the flight plan, weather, or aircraft status suggested the flight would become a case study still discussed decades later.

Unbeknownst to crew or ground staff, the aircraft also carried an unauthorised stowaway.

The Invisible Passenger

During the aircraft’s ground stop in Nuku’alofa, an unidentified local male accessed the aircraft’s right main landing gear wheel well. Wheel wells on the 737 are not pressurised, heated, or survivable environments. At cruise altitude, temperatures approach –55°C, oxygen levels are insufficient to sustain life, and airflow around exposed structures is violent.

The stowaway succumbed shortly after take-off. His body froze rapidly and, critically, became mechanically entangled within the landing gear structure — wrapped around the gear and side-strut linkage of the right main gear.

No alarms triggered. No system faults were detected. No one knew.

The First Indication: “No Right Main”

As the aircraft configured for landing into Apia, the crew selected landing gear down.

Two green lights illuminated. The third did not.

“No right main.”

Everything that should have worked did work — electrically, hydraulically, mechanically.

Except the gear would not move.

There was no fire. No hydraulic failure. No system explanation.

A 3.5-Hour Holding Pattern with No Answer

For more than three hours, the aircraft flew racetrack patterns offshore while options were exhausted, what followed was textbook crew response:

• High-G manoeuvres to try dislodging the obstruction

• Hydraulic systems checked — normal pressure, no leaks

• Emergency gravity extension selected

• Visual confirmation made by the FO, and confirmed an obstruction via mid-cabin viewing point

Fuel endurance was now limited. Alternate airports were impractical.

The decision was made to prepare for a partial gear-up landing at Faleolo.

The Landing

At approximately 06:12 local time, the crew committed.

The 737 touched down with:

• Left main gear

• Nose gear

• Right side unsupported

The Boeing 737’s lower fuselage design — robust, fire-resistant, and well-protected — performed exactly as intended.

The Discovery No One Expected

Emergency crews approached expecting fire, collapsed structure, or hydraulic rupture.

Instead, they found the cause:

A human body — frozen solid — physically wedged into the landing gear assembly.

The stowaway’s limbs and torso were locked around the gear, preventing it from extending into the down & locked position. No amount of hydraulic force could overcome it.

Even towing the aircraft proved difficult — the gear remained mechanically jammed.

Recovery and the Role of Australian Airlines Engineering

Australian Airlines engineers supporting Pacific operations at the time, mobilised rapidly.

Within 48 hours:

• Engineering teams were dispatched to Apia via RAAF Hercules

• Remains were carefully extracted by Police

• Systems inspected

• Structural damage assessed

• Landing gear components realigned and replaced

The aircraft was eventually repaired and returned to service within two weeks.

It would continue operating for nearly another decade.

Why This Matters

This incident is not just a macabre footnote in aviation history.

It matters because it exposes several uncomfortable truths:

1. Systems Can Work Perfectly — and Still Fail

Every checklist was followed. Every system responded. Yet the aircraft still could not land normally. Not all failures are technical.

2. Security Is a Significant Issue

Access control, inspections, and ground security are not “someone else’s problem.” They directly affect aircraft airworthiness.

3. Design Resilience Saves Lives

The 737’s ability to absorb a high-speed partial gear landing without fatalities is not luck — it is engineering foresight.

4. Recovery Capability Is as Important as Prevention

The rapid engineering response, decision-making under pressure, and collaborative recovery effort prevented the incident from becoming an operational or reputational catastrophe.

A Pacific Legacy

The event remains the only confirmed case of a stowaway directly causing a landing gear failure through physical obstruction. For those who worked in Pacific aviation during this era, it is remembered not for its shock — but for how close routine operations came to irreversible consequences.

Closing Thought

Aviation accidents are often explained by failed systems. This one wasn’t.

It was caused by desperation, access, and assumptions — and resolved by training, design resilience, and professionalism. Sometimes the most dangerous failures are the ones no system is designed to detect.

Stay Safe,

Craig