Talk:Stowaway

Unclear sentence
Usually, a stowaway tries to jump into an airplane by hanging on to the airliner's landing gear as the plane takes off, and the impact that the velocity of the airplane added to the power of the wind cause could easily make a stowaway fall to his death. What? does this really happen? How often do they do it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.199.55.231 (talk) 07:11, 17 February 2006


 * I'm entirely unable to figure out what "the velocity of the airplane added to the power of the wind cause" is supposed to mean. There's seldom room in the wheel well of an airplane for a human being to fit undamaged. Its unlikely that someone with no knowledge of the mechanics would be able to happen into a livable position during the short time it takes the gear to retract. There's probably little strong wind inside the wheel well, but I there is air movement, even a little heat from the pressurization outflow valves. Not enough to make a difference.
 * There's no heat in the wheel well, so that reference in the article is misinformed. There is cold (-35F) and there is little oxygen, either of which would kill someone who survived gear retraction.
 * Then someone would have to be awake, alert, and physically able to hang on somehow inside the wheel well during gear extension and the shock of touchdown. The chances are not good.76.21.139.195 02:49, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

More details
Recommend more details about the cases where the stowaway about an airplane did not die. I once was an unwitting stowaway. I boarded the wrong plane. I got on in time when I heard the announcement and did not want to go to the wrong city. Suomi Finland 2009 (talk) 21:23, 8 February 2010 (UTC)


 * The most famous case, Armando Socarras, happened in 1969. Just that time span means that there isn't very much online unless you pay for the New York Times archive.  Also, he landed in Franco Spain and was kept secluded so even the NYT articles may contain information from governments (US and Spain) which were both pretty happy to have a touching propaganda coup against Castro.  Lastly, while there is no dispute he survived the trip by some miracle (and probably inspired plenty of Cubans to die trying to emulate him) he himself has changed the details of the story several times, especially regarding his companion and even his age at the time of the incident is in dispute...reported as 17 or 18 in the beginning, then 22, then 18 and he's only added to the confusion.  I'm more worried about the ones where they discover the bodies days later.  Don't they at least shine a flashlight up there during aircraft turnaround to check for leaks or something?  My other stupid question is all the Havana stowaways hide in the 1-2 meter grass at the end of the runway.  Maybe they need a lawnmower?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.85.183.219 (talk) 06:54, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Too many examples
I think the list of examples is missing the point somewhat. There must have been many thousands if not millions of examples in history, so we can not list them all. What then is the intention of this section? --John (talk) 16:32, 10 September 2012 (UTC)
 * I agree that this list should be restricted to the most notable cases only. --Daniel (talk) 05:12, 14 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Thank you very much John, for your very swift response to my suggestion to clean-up this list. Truly speaking, I didn't expect that you would go as far as removing the whole list. What do you think if we restore this list, but would mention only the most notable cases, such as of Kingsley Ofosu, whose ordeal was dramatized even as a movie, and alike? --Daniel (talk) 05:49, 14 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Let's agree here which cases are most notable first. --John (talk) 05:52, 14 September 2012 (UTC)
 * That's a good idea, I'll go through the list and will provide my suggestion here. --Daniel (talk) 05:55, 14 September 2012 (UTC)

At sea By air
 * Perce Blackborow (1896 – 1949), an 18-year-old Welsh sailor, became a stowaway on Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance during the ill fated 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. He was found three days after the ship set sail from Buenos-Aires, but proved himself as a good steward and was eventually signed onto the crew. His story was fictionalised in Shackleton's Stowaway novel by Victoria McKernan.
 * In 1992, crew members of the Bahamian-flagged cargo ship McRuby discovered a group of nine African stowaways aboard and murdered eight of them, not willing to pay fines for bringing illegal immigrants to France. Ghanaian Kingsley Ofosu was the only one who managed to escape the massacre and was hiding aboard till the ship reached Le Havre. His story was dramatized in the 1996 television movie Deadly Voyage.
 * In 1999, two Guinean teenagers, Yaguine Koita and Fodé Tounkara, were stowaways who froze to death flying from Conakry, to Brussels, Belgium. Their bodies were later discovered in the aircraft's wheel bay. The moving letter about the hardships of their life in Guinea, which was found on their bodies, was published by the world media.
 * In 2000, an unidentified Tahitian man was discovered in the wheel well of Air France Boeing-474 in Los Angeles that originated in French Polynesia. Authorities described it is as a "miracle" that the man survived 7 1/2-hour flight inside the unheated and unpressurized landing gear at 38,000 ft and temperatures of -50 °F. He was rushed to UCLA medical center with body temperature of only 79 °F, while temperature below 85 °F is considered to be fatal, according to experts. He recovered fully but was flown back to Tahiti under orders from the Immigration and Naturalization Service. --Daniel (talk) 07:29, 14 September 2012 (UTC)
 * They will all need to be properly sourced. Can they be? --John (talk) 10:34, 15 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Well, the last one is already sourced. And the rest have Wikipedia articles devoted to them. I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem to find RS references to their stories.--Daniel (talk) 11:00, 15 September 2012 (UTC)


 * I would prefer to have the full list, but in a separate article. Or move it to wikidata --helohe (talk)  18:25, 25 January 2013 (UTC)


 * For those interested in perusing the full list, as it existed before being removed from the article, here's the last version of the article that still contained it. -- Vmenkov (talk) 00:40, 16 November 2013 (UTC)

Source number 2
I don't think source number 2 (http://american-rattlesnake.org/2010/08/stowaways-to-america-a-true-story/) is relevant. It's not quite an article (it reads more like a novel), and its truthfulness can be debated. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.5.216.100 (talk) 13:24, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

FOTO: A stowaway on a tram in Astrakhan
Man from Volgograd. Google translator.

This photo is not true. Stowaway travel to Russia as elsewhere go inside.(30%) In the photo to entertain a teenager. They will travel one stop, then will travel in the opposite direction. Just for fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDq-TCaM9Zw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7a-W8EupfQ

More extreme riding on the subway and commuter trains, at the risk of life. It's definitely not the Stowaway, as they travel on the subway already paid at the entrance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_surfing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCxJ3lhEfK8 178.155.109.61 (talk) 16:06, 4 February 2015 (UTC)

When did the stowaway word appear? + Stowaway vs stow away
When did the stowaway word and concept appear? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.199.97.101 (talk) 16:04, 24 June 2015 (UTC)


 * There are several questions linked to the origin of stowaway word and stow away concept for which the article does not provide a good understanding, more specifically for a non english native speaker.
 * Stowaway vs stow away. Does the stowaway word comes from stow away expression? If so can we write it in the article?
 * Is the Stowaway/stow away expression applicable exclusively to things or to person? For instance wiktionary says that to stow is to put something away in a compact and tidy manner.
 * When was this expression used? I only found use of those expression in few sentences (sorted by chronological reverse order):
 * 1893, v_OqqWxjNocC You are a stowaway (...) — a stowaway? (...) No I'm not, you men brought me here In Cupid's Chains, Or, A Slave for Life / Charles Garvice / A.L. Burt, 1893 - 321 pages
 * 1876, jDJDAQAAMAAJ In that case Lieutenant Jetkin has not received a fugitive slave — he had discovered a stow-away on board his vessel The Parliamentary Debates / Great Britain. Parliament, William Cobbett, Thomas Curson Hansard /R. Bagshaw, 1876
 * 1876, 3oY0AQAAMAAJ In that case Lieutenant Jetkin has not received a fugitive slave — he had discovered a stow-away on board his vessel The Parliamentary Debates (Authorized Edition) / Great Britain. Parliament, William Cobbett, Thomas Carson Hansard / Wyman, 1876
 * 1856, pXYTAQAAMAAJ It is almost impossible to conceive how one of these vessels of only one hundred tons, can stow away three hundred and fifty slaves; means, however are found to do it. Scriptural examination of the institution of slavery in the United States: with its objects and purposes / Howell Cobb / Printed for the author, 1856 - 173 pages
 * 1843, gostAQAAMAAJ The former vessel was fitted up to stow away the slaves General Report of the Emigration Commissioners, Volume 2 / Great Britain. Emigration Commission / H.M. Stationery Office, 1843
 * 1841, ou4xAQAAMAAJ ″Form a letter of the 23d January 1834, (...) ′ (...) On these the slave lie, as close as they can stow away′″ Slavery and the Internal Slave Trade in the United States of North America: Being Replies to Questions Transmitted by the Committee of the British and Foreign Anti-slavery Society, for the Abolition of Slavery and the Slave Trade Throughout the World. Presented to the General Anti-slavery Convention, Held in London, June, 1840, Volume 3 / British and Foreign Anti-slavery Society, American Anti-Slavery Society / T. Ward, 1841 - 280 pages
 * 1841, GI4MAAAAYAAJ (...) all fitted and prepared to make a slave-deck to stow away the slaves from their return (...) An appeal to the professors of Christianity: in the southern states and elsewhere, on the subject of slavery / New England Yearly Meeting of Friends. Representative Meeting / Printed by Knowles and Vose, 1841 - 24 pages
 * 1841, gS5cAAAAcAAJ ″From a letter of the 23d of January 1834, (...) ′ (...) On these the slave lie, as close as they can stow away.′″ Slavery and the internal slave trade in the United States of North America; being replies to questions transmitted by the Committee of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society ... Presented to the General Anti-Slavery Convention, held in London, June, 1840. By the executive Committee of the American Anti-slavery Society / British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society / T. Ward & Company, 1841 - 280 pages
 * 1838, k0GfvSm-YxcC ″From a letter of the 23d of January, 1834, (...) ′ (...) On these the slaves lie, as close as they can stow away.′″ INQUIRY INTO THE CHARACTER AND TENDENCY OF THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION AND AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETIES / WILLIAM JAY / 1838
 * 1835, cKJgAAAAcAAJ ″From a letter of the 23d of January, 1834, (...) ′ (...) On these the slaves lie, as close as they can stow away.′″ An inquiry into the character and tendency of the American colonization, and American anti-slavery societies ... Third edition. Stereotyped, etc / William JAY (of New York.), Samuel Hanson COX, John MORISON (D.D., LL.D.) / Leavitt, Lord&Company, 1835 - 206 pages
 * 1833, kaxVAAAAYAAJ On these the slaves lie, as close as they can stow away. The Religious Intelligencer, Volume 10 / N. Whiting., 1833
 * Are those sentences linked to the origin of the stowaway concept? If so are we allowed and/or forbidden to write it in the article?
 * regards 77.199.97.101 (talk) 19:08, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
 * There are also some used with a dash like in stow-away for instance in:
 * 1868, sV0CAAAAIAAJ "A stow-away, sir! (((...) A boy stowed away!" (...) I'd has lief see a son of mine in a Carolina slave-gang as to see him lead the life of a stow-away  The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 22 / Atlantic Monthly Company, 1868
 * 1851, 7TsrAAAAYAAJ (...) and a search made in the steerage, in every hole and corner of the ship for ″stow-aways.″ Friends' Review: A Religious, Literary and Miscellaneous Journal, Volume 4 / Enoch Lewis, Samuel Rhoads / J. Tatum., 1851
 * 1848 MH11AAAAMAAJ There were discovered on board five men and two boys, with two dogs, stow-aways, who had concealed themselves among the water casks in the hope of getting out free of expense; they were locked up until the steam tug left us, and sent home in her. An Englishwoman in America / Sarah Mytton Maury / T. Richardson and son; (etc., etc.), 1848 - 3 pages
 * 1841, I0UFAAAAYAAJ  stow-away our N* The Congressional Globe, Volume 9 / nited States. Congress / Blair & Rives, 1841
 * 1838, kSwWAAAAYAAJ Also, the testimony of Charles Thompson, who states, that John Conrad, Mayor of the Northern Liberties, offered him one hundred dollars, if he ″would stow away one hundred men for him.″ (...) Mister John Conrad andhis soon, called upon me and wished me to stow away one hundred men, as he expected there would be some disturbance on the election day, in that district Report of the Committee Appointed to Enquire Into the Causes of the Disturbances at the Seat of Government, in December, 1838 / Pennsylvania. General Assembly. House of Representatives. Committee on Disturbances at Seat of Government, James Ross Snowden / Boas & Coplan, 1839 - 163 pages — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.199.97.101 (talk) 20:02, 26 June 2015 (UTC)
 * It looks like the stowed away term was also used for people:
 * 1828, cZpFAQAAMAAJ He found them stowed away under the thwarts of the boat The Worcester Talisman, Volume 1 / Dorr & Howland, 1828
 * 1814, zMK47s5U4CYC instead of the proper crew of four men; there were only three; but under the thwarts were stowed away three others, the armourer, a cook and a marine. A Voyage to Terra Australis, Undertaken for the Purpose of Completing the Discovery of that Vast Country and Prosecuted in the Years 1801, 1802 and 1803... / Matthew Flinders / G. and W. Nicol, 1814 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.199.97.101 (talk) 10:31, 27 June 2015 (UTC)