Man who fell from plane into London back garden may have been airport worker, officials reveal

‘It’s probably somebody who had access to the airside,’ says head of Kenya’s aviation authority

A man whose body fell from a plane into the back garden of a south London back home may have been an airport worker, Kenyan officials have revealed.

Police were called to the property in Clapham when the frozen body plunged from the landing gear of a Kenya Airways flight on Sunday, only narrowly missing a shocked sunbather.

The man’s identity remains a mystery, but the most senior official at the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority said he was “likely” an employee at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, where the Heathrow-bound plane took off from.

“Whoever it is most likely had access to the airside because with the way security is tight, it’s unlikely that an outsider would have been able to make his way through to the airside where an aeroplane is parked and be able to climb in,” director general Gilbert Kibe told BBC Africa. “I’m suspecting it’s probably somebody who had access to the airside.”

Airside refers to the area of an airport near the aircraft, beyond passport, customs control and security checks.

Mr Kibe said the captain or first officer would normally walk around the plane and check the undercarriage thoroughly before take-off.

Asked about security concerns the breach raised, he said: “That problem exists globally everywhere, it cannot be isolated to one airport.”

British police have sent the dead man’s fingerprints to authorities there to try to identify him, Kenyan media reported.

Offerton Road in Clapham (PA)

Neighbours had previously described hearing the frozen body crash into the garden.

“I heard a ‘whomp’ – I went upstairs to look out of a window. At first I thought it was a tramp asleep in the garden,” one said. “He had all of his clothes on and everything. I had a closer look and saw there was blood all over the walls of the garden. His head was not in a good way. I realised immediately that he had fallen.”

The neighbour, who asked not to be named, said that the tenant of the property in which the landed down told him it crashed down only one metre from the spot where he was sunbathing.

“One of the reasons his body was so intact was because his body was an ice block," he added.

According to data from flightradar24.com, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was little more than 3,500 feet above the ground as it flew over the home.

London's Metropolitan Police said officers were still working to establish the man’s identity.

“Enquiries continue, led by the South Central Command Unit and the Met’s Aviation Policing Command. Officers will be liaising with the airline and international authorities,” said a spokesperson for the force.