The body of a suspected stowaway on a Heathrow-bound plane fell just "one metre away" from a man sunbathing in his back garden, a neighbour has claimed.

Met Police say the body, thought to be a man's, is understood to have fallen from the landing gear of a Kenya Airways flight as it prepared to land at Heathrow Airport.

Police were called to Offerton Road, Clapham at 3.39pm by shocked residents on Sunday (June 30) after a neighbour described hearing a "whomp" as the body hit the ground.

The individual fell into the garden of a property - only a metre from a tenant who had been enjoying the sunshine.

According to data from, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was around 3,500 feet above the ground as it flew over the street.

The neighbour said: "I heard a 'whomp' - I went upstairs to look out of a window. At first I though it was a tramp asleep in the garden. 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."

The neighbour added: "I realised immediately that he had fallen. So I went outside and it was just then the neighbour came out and he was very shaken.

"He had been sunbathing and he landed one metre away from him. The police were here very quickly."


The plane spotter had arrived almost at the same time as the police and told them the body had fallen from a Kenya Airways flight.

The neighbour said: "The police had four cars. They were here for about five hours to start the clean-up operation."

He said the body was removed at about 8.30pm on Sunday (June 30) and that the clean-up team had returned on Monday morning to continue the job.

He said: "If it had been two seconds later, he would have landed on the common where there were hundreds of people - my kids were in the garden 15 minutes before [he fell]."

It's understood the man's body was frozen when it fell.

The body reportedly fell just before the plane landed at Heathrow Airport


A Met Police spokesman said: "Officers are working to establish the identity of a man believed to have fallen from the landing gear compartment of an aeroplane."

The force was contacted for further comment on Tuesday morning (July 2) however it said there were no further updates.

A post-mortem will be carried out in due course, and the age of the individual has yet to be determined. The death is not being treated as suspicious.

The Met said it would be liaising with the airline and international authorities. Heathrow Airport and Kenya Airways have been contacted for further comment.

Follow the latest updates on the incident in our blog here.