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Air France orders landings for stowaways

 

PARIS, Dec 4 (AFP) – Air France has told its pilots to immediately drop altitude and land if they have reason to believe a stowaway may be hiding in an unpressurised part of their aircraft, according to an internal memo obtained by AFP Thursday.

The note tells pilots to “strictly” apply the new rule, which follows an outcry caused by the decision of an Air France pilot on October 9 to continue a Brazzaville-Paris flight despite being informed a Congolese man had sneaked into the undercarriage before take-off.

The body of the man, who had frozen to death in the minus 50 degrees Celsius (minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit) high-altitude temperatures, was discovered in the plane when it touched down six hours later.An Air France spokesman confirmed the existence of the new memo, but said the company’s pilots “remain the final decision-makers during a flight”.

© AFP

 Subject: French news