SAN JOSE - Aviation and security experts were at a loss Monday as to how a 16-year-old boy from Santa Clara managed to scale a fence at Mineta San Jose International Airport before surviving a five-hour flight to Maui in the wheel well of a Hawaiian Airlines jet.

Surveillance video showed the boy hopping a fence at the San Jose airport while it was still dark Sunday morning and then walking toward a Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 767 on the tarmac, authorities said. Flight 45 took off at 7:55 a.m. - with no one realizing that the boy had climbed into the plane's wheel well.

The boy was apparently unconscious for the duration of the flight at high altitude and extremely cold temperatures. After the plane landed at Kahului Airport in Maui at 10:30 a.m. local time, "Hawaiian Airlines personnel in Maui noticed the individual on the ramp" and immediately notified airport security, said Hawaiian Airlines spokeswoman Alison Croyle.

A photo from Maui News showed the boy sitting up on a stretcher and being placed into an ambulance. His name and condition weren't released.

"Our primary concern now is for the well-being of the boy, who is exceptionally lucky to have survived," Croyle said. "Hawaiian and its contractors responsible for handling our aircraft in San Jose are ready to assist various government agencies in their investigation of this incident."

San Jose airport spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes said the airport, the FBI and Transportation Security Administration officials were reviewing security measures and "remains concerned about the health and welfare of the teenager." (Source: San Francisco Chronicle)

Story Date: April 27, 2014