Body found in wheel of US Boeing plane on Christmas Eve

"Upon arrival at Kahului Airport in Maui on December 24 (local time), a body was discovered in the wheel well of one of the main landing gears on the United aircraft," the US airline said in a statement to CNN on December 25.

The statement added that the body was discovered on a Boeing 787-10. Flight UA202 arrived in Hawaii on time on the afternoon of December 24, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.com.

“The wheel well is only accessible from the outside of the aircraft,” United Airlines said. “At this time, it is unclear how or when the individual gained access to the wheel well.”

United Airlines is working with local law enforcement. Maui police did not immediately respond to CNN's request for further information. The Maui Police Department is investigating the discovery of the body, according to CNN affiliate Hawaii News Now.

Hiding in the wheel wells of airplanes is the most common method used by stowaways. The Federal Aviation Administration says that more than 77% of people who attempt to fly illegally die.

Such hiders were often crushed when the landing gear retracted, because the places they hid were so cramped, with many planes having wheel wells even smaller than the trunks of cars.

As the plane climbed to higher altitudes, conditions became worse. Oxygen levels became critically low and the stowaways struggled to stay conscious. During the flight, the temperature outside the plane also dropped sharply, sometimes as low as -20 degrees Celsius. Stowaways were at risk of frostbite and hypothermia.

The discovery of the body in the wheel well of an airplane comes after US authorities also recently discovered a woman who escaped a US airline's security checkpoint and boarding process to board a flight to Paris.

The incident is raising alarm about a potential security breach in aviation that could have serious consequences. Similar security breaches have occurred in the airline industry, including several this year in the United States.

During the busiest travel season in the United States, Svetlana Dali, 57, bypassed airport security and boarded a flight from New York to Paris over Thanksgiving, making it almost all the way before she was discovered. Her case made international headlines, but such fare-dodging is not uncommon.

The Dali case has raised alarm bells among officials about procedures and safety issues. Airlines have developed security plans to ensure everything is controlled, but even so, people still slip through the cracks.

This December, the Director of the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Mr. David P. Pekoske, proposed that installing electronic gate technology, known as e-gate, could be the solution to ensure all passengers are screened.

The e-gate technology could integrate with TSA's facial recognition system at checkpoints, but the agency said it would require more federal investment.