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sixate · 09-09-2003, 02:35 PM

LINKY

Quote:

Stowaway Makes New York-Dallas Flight in Cargo Crate

DALLAS — Federal agents say they are investigating how a man succeeded in stowing away in a cargo plane on a flight from New York to Dallas by shipping himself in a wooden crate.

After hours of traveling, Charles McKinley, 25, of New York City, pried open the crate with a crowbar Saturday morning, authorities said. He popped up outside his parents' doorstep in suburban DeSoto, shook the hand of a shocked deliveryman and walked away, The Dallas Morning News reported Tuesday.

The deliveryman called DeSoto police, who arrested him on outstanding Texas warrants.

McKinley has not been charged with a crime, officials said.

The FBI and the Transportation Security Administration are investigating.

"It's amazing that the gentleman survived. It's absolutely a bizarre case," said FBI Special Agent Lori Bailey, a spokeswoman for the Dallas field office. "Our concern at this point is to determine how this was done."

Officials said McKinley's crate was put aboard a pressurized Boeing 727 (search) operated by Indiana-based Kitty Hawk Cargo from Kennedy International to Fort Wayne, Ind. The crate was transferred to a second plane bound for Dallas-Fort Worth International.

A ground shipping company picked up the crate and delivered it to the residence of McKinley's parents. McKinley spent at least half a day in the crate and broke out just in time for the deliveryman to see him, authorities said.

Air cargo receives less scrutiny than airline passengers in the heightened security imposed after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

"While this is a very unusual situation, we are fully cooperating with the regulatory agencies, the shipper and other parties handling this investigation," Kim Wiemuth, a spokeswoman for Kitty Hawk Cargo, said in a statement. "Kitty Hawk Cargo followed all current cargo security procedures."

I thought this was hilarious. I wonder what it cost to ship himself. That had to have been one uncomfortable trip.
I also wonder if he was planning on getting back home the same way.

Lebell · 09-09-2003, 02:37 PM

Didn't cost him anything.

He billed the shipping to his company.

Johnny Rotten · 09-09-2003, 02:50 PM

Amateur.

You wait until the delivery guy drives away, and then do your Houdini thing!

Sheesh.

Skettios · 09-09-2003, 03:00 PM

I can't imagine that would be very comfortable.

uncle phil · 09-09-2003, 04:10 PM

he may have been trying to prove how easy it would be for a terrorist (read: suicide bomber) to do the same thing...

BuddyHawks · 09-09-2003, 04:15 PM

Did he do it out of desperation, or was he trying to prove a point? I think the guy was cocky after successfuly completing his feat; he wanted to show off.

YourNeverThere · 09-09-2003, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Johnny Rotten
Amateur.

You wait until the delivery guy drives away, and then do your Houdini thing!

Sheesh.

It's true, but the look on the dudes face would have been worth it.

bundy · 09-09-2003, 05:40 PM

thats insane.
how on earth did he get away with that?

Esen · 09-09-2003, 06:19 PM

Someone by that guy a beer

Hard8s · 09-09-2003, 07:26 PM

You know he didn't have any when he was on the plane......No where to recycle it. (Take a leak)

Wonder how long he was in there?

Flippy · 09-09-2003, 07:38 PM

It says here that the total cost was $550.

Quote:

The freight cost — billed to McKinley's employer — was $550. At that rate, "he could have flown first-class," Phillips said.

Ouch.

The_Dude · 09-10-2003, 06:29 AM

Quote:

DALLAS -- Charles D. McKinley had himself shipped from New York to Dallas in an airline cargo crate, startling his parents -- and a deliveryman -- when he broke out of the box outside their home.

"My husband asked him, `Man, what are you doing in this crate?' He said he was coming home," his mother told KDFW-TV in Dallas.

Federal officials want to know how the stowaway bypassed airport security.

McKinley, 25, a shipping clerk from New York, was arrested and jailed on unrelated bad-check and traffic charges after his overnight odyssey.

Federal officials are considering additional charges of stowing away on a plane.

In a rambling jailhouse interview, McKinley told KXAS-TV in Dallas that he made the trip because he was homesick and a friend thought he could save money by flying as cargo.

McKinley said he took no food or water on the 15-hour journey, just a cell phone, which did not work.

Before setting out, McKinley filled out shipping instructions saying the crate held a computer and clothes.

Authorities believe he had help from at least one co-worker at the warehouse where he works in New York.

The box was taken by truck from New York's Kennedy Airport to New Jersey. Then it was loaded onto a pressurized, heated cargo plane operated by Kitty Hawk Cargo. It flew from Newark, N.J., to Niagara Falls, N.Y., then to the carrier's hub in Fort Wayne, Ind., and on to Dallas, the FBI said.

On Saturday, Billy Ray Thomas, a driver for Pilot Air Freight, picked up the crate at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport and delivered it to McKinley's parents' home in suburban DeSoto.

When Thomas went to unload the 350-pound crate from his truck, he saw a pair of eyes and thought there was a body inside.

Then McKinley broke the box open and crawled out, said police Lt. Brian Windham. McKinley's mother was stunned. The delivery driver called police.

DeSoto police said the crate measured 42 inches by 36 inches by 15 inches. McKinley stands5-foot-8 and weighs 170 pounds, authorities said.

Authorities said they did not know whether McKinley had any toilet facilities. But the stowaway told the TV station that he got out of the crate during flights once or twice and walked around.

His box was carried in the pressurized, heated cabins, but could just as easily have been placed in the lower, unpressurized holds, said Richard Phillips, chief executive of Pilot Air Freight.

"He could easily have died," Phillips said.

The freight cost -- billed to McKinley's employer -- was $550. At that rate, "he could have flown first-class," Phillips said.

Air cargo receives less federal security attention than passenger planes, in part because of its sheer volume.

Other than the federal statute, District Attorney Bill Hill said he could not cite any law broken by McKinley.

"He violated the law of stupidity if nothing else," Hill said.

Now that's an extreme measure to save some $$.

the story is funny though.

Averett · 09-10-2003, 06:40 AM

$550. Buy a ticket next time, asshole.

www.priceline.com

It amazes me how stupid people are sometimes.

Booboo · 09-10-2003, 07:10 AM

Lol I just heard about this on the radio..

some people..

Splice · 09-10-2003, 07:57 AM

He could have died. Not a smart thing to do.

Gortexfogg · 09-10-2003, 08:01 AM

Why didn't he stow away in the landing gear compartment like normal stowaways? I wonder if any bells or lights went off in this guy's head when he paid the shipping costs (which were more than a regular ticket)...

HookedOnChronic · 09-10-2003, 08:33 AM

If you read a bit closer you'll see he didn't pay for it, he billed it to his employer.

"The freight cost -- billed to McKinley's employer -- was $550."

water_boy1999 · 09-10-2003, 08:50 AM

This is hilarious....he may be dumb, but he has enormous balls to pull that off.

Averett · 09-10-2003, 08:56 AM

And he couldnt find a way to bill a plane ticket to his employer? Hell, I could do that.

Heyyy great idea!

uncle phil · 09-10-2003, 12:04 PM

http://tfproject.org/tfp/showthread....threadid=26453

YourNeverThere · 09-10-2003, 01:27 PM

damn you phil, I was a second late

santafe5000 · 09-10-2003, 06:04 PM

Now they say on the news that he has been arrreted

09-09-2003, 02:37 PM	#2 (permalink)
Lebell Cracking the Whip Location: Sexymama's arms...	Didn't cost him anything. He billed the shipping to his company. __________________ "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis The ONLY sponsors we have are YOU! Please Donate!

09-09-2003, 02:50 PM	#3 (permalink)
Johnny Rotten lost and found Location: Berkeley	Amateur. You wait until the delivery guy drives away, and then do your Houdini thing! Sheesh. __________________ "The idea that money doesn't buy you happiness is a lie put about by the rich, to stop the poor from killing them." -- Michael Caine

09-09-2003, 03:00 PM	#4 (permalink)
Skettios Condition: Stable and Improving Location: Finger on the little red button.	I can't imagine that would be very comfortable. __________________ Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies. Frederich Nietzsche

09-09-2003, 04:10 PM	#5 (permalink)
uncle phil comfortably numb... Super Moderator Location: upstate	he may have been trying to prove how easy it would be for a terrorist (read: suicide bomber) to do the same thing... __________________ "We were wrong, terribly wrong. (We) should not have tried to fight a guerrilla war with conventional military tactics against a foe willing to absorb enormous casualties...in a country lacking the fundamental political stability necessary to conduct effective military and pacification operations. It could not be done and it was not done." - Robert S. McNamara ----------------------------------------- "We will take our napalm and flame throwers out of the land that scarcely knows the use of matches... We will leave you your small joys and smaller troubles." - Eugene McCarthy in "Vietnam Message" ----------------------------------------- never wrestle with a pig. you both get dirty; the pig likes it.

09-09-2003, 04:15 PM	#6 (permalink)
BuddyHawks Swashbuckling Location: Iowa...sometimes	Did he do it out of desperation, or was he trying to prove a point? I think the guy was cocky after successfuly completing his feat; he wanted to show off. __________________ Watch More TV

09-09-2003, 05:40 PM	#8 (permalink)
bundy . Location: Tokyo	thats insane. how on earth did he get away with that? __________________ Ohayo!!!

09-09-2003, 06:19 PM	#9 (permalink)
Esen TFPer formaly known as Chauncey Location: North East	Someone by that guy a beer __________________ ~Esen What is everyone doing in my room?

09-09-2003, 07:26 PM	#10 (permalink)
Hard8s Addict Location: Wherever I am!	You know he didn't have any when he was on the plane......No where to recycle it. (Take a leak) Wonder how long he was in there? __________________ If ignorance is bliss, then wipe this smile off my face!

09-10-2003, 06:40 AM	#13 (permalink)
Averett Is In Love Location: I'm workin' on it	$550. Buy a ticket next time, asshole. www.priceline.com It amazes me how stupid people are sometimes. __________________ Absence is to love what wind is to fire. It extinguishes the small, it enkindles the great.

09-10-2003, 07:10 AM	#14 (permalink)
Booboo Insane	Lol I just heard about this on the radio.. some people.. __________________ "Your life is yours to live, go out and live it" - Richard Rahl

09-10-2003, 07:57 AM	#15 (permalink)
Splice Crazy	He could have died. Not a smart thing to do.

09-10-2003, 08:01 AM	#16 (permalink)
Gortexfogg I and I Location: Stillwater, OK	Why didn't he stow away in the landing gear compartment like normal stowaways? I wonder if any bells or lights went off in this guy's head when he paid the shipping costs (which were more than a regular ticket)...

09-10-2003, 08:33 AM	#17 (permalink)
HookedOnChronic Upright	If you read a bit closer you'll see he didn't pay for it, he billed it to his employer. "The freight cost -- billed to McKinley's employer -- was $550."

09-10-2003, 08:50 AM	#18 (permalink)
water_boy1999 Fly em straight! Location: Above and Beyond	This is hilarious....he may be dumb, but he has enormous balls to pull that off. __________________ Doh!!!! -Homer Simpson

09-10-2003, 08:56 AM	#19 (permalink)
Averett Is In Love Location: I'm workin' on it	And he couldnt find a way to bill a plane ticket to his employer? Hell, I could do that. Heyyy great idea! __________________ Absence is to love what wind is to fire. It extinguishes the small, it enkindles the great.

09-10-2003, 01:27 PM	#21 (permalink)
YourNeverThere Practical Anarchist Location: Yesterday i woke up stuck in hollywood	damn you phil, I was a second late __________________ The Above post is a direct quote from Shakespeare

09-10-2003, 12:04 PM	#20 (permalink)
uncle phil comfortably numb... Super Moderator Location: upstate	http://tfproject.org/tfp/showthread....threadid=26453 __________________ "We were wrong, terribly wrong. (We) should not have tried to fight a guerrilla war with conventional military tactics against a foe willing to absorb enormous casualties...in a country lacking the fundamental political stability necessary to conduct effective military and pacification operations. It could not be done and it was not done." - Robert S. McNamara ----------------------------------------- "We will take our napalm and flame throwers out of the land that scarcely knows the use of matches... We will leave you your small joys and smaller troubles." - Eugene McCarthy in "Vietnam Message" ----------------------------------------- never wrestle with a pig. you both get dirty; the pig likes it.

09-10-2003, 06:04 PM	#22 (permalink)
santafe5000 EVIL! Location: Southwest of nowhere	Now they say on the news that he has been arrreted __________________ When all else fails, QUIT.