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Teen stowaway miraculously survives flight

A 16-year-old boy who hid in a plane wheel well has miraculously survived a flight from California to Hawaii unscathed.

The teen ran away from home and leaped over a fence at San Jose International Airport in order to climb into the left rear wheel of Hawaiian Airlines Flight 45.

The boy remained unconscious for the majority of the five-hour flight due to lack of oxygen.

“I imagine he must have blacked out at about 10,000 feet,” FBI spokesman Tom Simon told Fairfax Media. “The air is pretty thin up there.”

At high altitudes, temperatures can drop to around -62 degrees Celsius.

Authorities have described his survival as “a miracle”.

The boy remained unconscious for an hour after the plane landed at Maui’s Kahului Airport. When he woke up, he got down onto the tarmac and was spotted by airline personnel.

FBI officials have said the teenager had no intention of travelling to Hawaii and didn’t know where the plane was heading.

He has not yet been charged with a crime.

“Our primary concern now is the well-being of the boy, who is exceptionally lucky to have survived,” a statement from Hawaiian Airlines said.

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