. >> reporter: aviation consultant jay joseph believes mckinley cheated death. >> if you're stowing awayn a crate, you're gambling with your life. >> you really are on your own. >> reporter: according to an faa study on stowaways, yes, it happens often enough to keep statistics. 76% of stowaway passengers have died in transit. but believe it or not, what's more common -- sneaking into the wheel well, like that 15-year-old california teen did yesterday. it usually doesn't end well. >> we've come across what looks like a dead body. >> reporter: the overwhelming majority of stowaway cases involve people from developing countries fleeing desperate situations to make their way to europe or north america. >> the man whose body was found in a street in west london has been identified. >> reporter: with no heat, no oxygen, and no pressurization, it's often a one-way ticket to the afterlife. like this horrifying image of a 14-year-old stowaway caught unwittingly on camera falling out of a plane taking off from australia. >> when the wheels come down, you're falling out. >> reporter: at 18,000 fee