Perry Gad
USGS Brown Tree Snake Project, Dededo, Guam.
Aviat Space Environ Med. 2002 Jul;73(7):673-6.
Desperate people sometimes risk journeys as stowaways in aircraft wheel-wells. Some of them survive, despite the risks of being crushed by retracting landing gear, falling when the gear deploys for landing, or experiencing severe hypoxia and hypobaria in-flight. This study evaluates the level of hypothermia to which stowaways in aircraft may be exposed.
Miniature dataloggers were used to record in-flight temperatures in aircraft wheel-wells and cargo compartments. Temperatures were measured for front and side wheel-wells (FW and SW, respectively) on 36 flights by C-130 aircraft (mean duration 3.3 h, mean cruise altitude 5588 m (18,333 ft)) and 11 flights by C-141 aircraft (6.7 h and 10,744 m (35,250 ft)).
Mean minimum temperatures for the C-130 remained above freezing and averaged 5.1 degrees C for FW and 11.9 degrees C for SW. The higher, longer C-141 flights produced temperatures below freezing with mean minimum temperatures of -18.0 degrees C for FW and -12.4 degrees C for SW. In general, temperatures in wheel-wells remained about 20 degrees C above outside air temperature (OAT) at all altitudes. This increase reflects the fact that wheel-wells are closed spaces within the aircraft body, in addition to which they contain sources of heat such as hydraulic lines and electrical equipment. Cargo compartment minimum temperature was relatively high (mean = 18.6 degrees C for commercial airline). A search of the medical literature and lay press produced information on 46 incidents of people found in wheel-wells after landing where there was no evidence of trauma. The 15 survivors had stowed away on relatively short flights (mean = 4.8 h, maximum = 10 h) compared with fatalities (mean = 7.5 h, range = 3-12 h).
Temperatures in wheel-wells during short flights may sustain life. Long flights add severe hypothermia to acute hypoxia and hypobaria as potentially fatal environmental factors faced by wheel-well stowaways.
绝望的人有时会冒险藏身在飞机轮舱中偷渡。尽管存在被收起的起落架挤压、起落架展开准备降落时掉落或者在空中遭遇严重低氧和低压的风险，但他们中的一些人还是存活了下来。本研究评估了飞机上偷渡者可能面临的体温过低程度。
使用微型数据记录器记录飞机轮舱和货舱内的飞行温度。在C - 130飞机的36次飞行（平均时长3.3小时，平均巡航高度5588米（18,333英尺））以及C - 141飞机的11次飞行（6.7小时，10,744米（35,250英尺））中，分别测量了前轮舱和侧轮舱（分别为FW和SW）的温度。
C - 130飞机的平均最低温度保持在冰点以上，前轮舱平均为5.1摄氏度，侧轮舱平均为11.9摄氏度。C - 141飞机飞行高度更高、时间更长，导致温度低于冰点，前轮舱平均最低温度为 - 18.0摄氏度，侧轮舱为 - 12.4摄氏度。一般来说，在所有高度下，轮舱内的温度比外界气温（OAT）高约20摄氏度。这种升高反映了轮舱是飞机机身内的封闭空间，此外还包含液压管路和电气设备等热源。货舱最低温度相对较高（商业航空公司平均为18.6摄氏度）。查阅医学文献和大众媒体报道，发现了46起降落后在轮舱中发现人员的事件，其中没有创伤证据。与死亡者（平均7.5小时，范围3 - 12小时）相比，15名幸存者偷渡的航班相对较短（平均4.8小时，最长10小时）。
短途飞行期间轮舱内的温度可能维持生命。长途飞行会给轮舱偷渡者带来严重体温过低，再加上急性低氧和低压，这些都是潜在的致命环境因素。
