FLORAL PARK, N.Y. – A man's leg and part of his torso dropped out of the wheel well of a jetliner near Kennedy Airport (search) and plunged into a suburban neighborhood Tuesday, coming to rest in a home's backyard, authorities said.
The flying body parts made for a ghastly discovery for Pam Hearne, who heard "a loud crash" and later was stunned to see a foot clad in an Adidas sneaker and a sock in the middle of her lawn, said Officer Thomas Blanchard. The leg and torso dented the shingled roof of her garage.
Police suspect the remains are from a stowaway who may have been crushed as the South African Airways (search) jet lowered its landing gear.
Federal Aviation Administration (search) spokesman Jim Peters said the pilot of flight 203 would have probably started lowering the plane's landing gear in the sky over the home in Floral Park, about 5 miles from the airport.
Peters said a Customs agent that met the flight at the airport found another leg hanging from the wheel well.
The airline said in a statement that the flight landed with "no impact" on the passengers and crew and it was working closely with authorities to investigate how someone may have stowed away.
The flight originated in Johannesburg, and made one stop in Senegal. Authorities had not identified the remains, which were hauled away from Hearne's yard in a plastic bag.
Hearne, a special education teacher, said that when she first saw the leg in the grass, "it didn't look real."
"But I am very glad that I live where I do," she said, "so I don't have to run for my life like this man probably was doing."
There have been cases of stowaways being crushed by the mechanism in aircraft wheel wells and perishing from the extreme cold at high altitude.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox