Police have disclosed new details after two dead bodies were discovered on a plane after it landed.
A JetBlue flight departed from JFK airport in New York shortly before 8PM on Monday (January 6) and landed at Florida’a Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport 28 minutes behind schedule.
Upon arrival, during a routine inspection of the plane’s landing gear, airline workers made the tragic discovery of two deceased individuals, The Independent reported.
The identities have not been disclosed as law enforcement is carrying out their investigation.
Officials have shared an update on the case, revealing that an unidentified individual radioed into Broward County Sheriff’s Office at 11:26PM, according to CNN.
“A gate technician in the landing gear area noticed two males who appear to be Signal 7, advised they are not moving in the landing gear area,” the unidentified official said. Signal 7 is a police radio code used to describe a dead body.
Carey Codd, a spokesperson for the department, told the outlet: “The individuals who [are] deceased are both males. Beyond that, their identities at this time are unknown.” He added that The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office will perform autopsies to “determine the causes of death of both individuals”.
In addition to this, an anonymous law enforcement source revealed that the bodies were badly decomposed when they were found. This indicates that the men were onboard the aircraft for several flights.
FlightAware data showed that the JetBlue flight had a busy schedule, departing from Kingston, Jamaica, at 1:10AM before landing at JFK a little more than three and a half hours later.
The Airbus A320 jet then continued its journey to Salt Lake City at 10:34AM after a five-hour flight, before returning to JFK and ultimately concluding its journey in Fort Lauderdale.
The Transportation Security Administration has shared that they are investigating the deaths with the help of local police and the Federal Aviation Administration.
“This is a heartbreaking situation, and we are committed to working closely with authorities to support their efforts to understand how this occurred,” JetBlue said in a statement.
The National Transportation Safety Board revealed that they are not investigating because “it appears that the incident had no involvement of the flight crew or operation of the airplane”.
Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy.
