Further Proof Teenagers Are Crazy Daredevils, 16-Year-Old Stowaway Flies To Hawaii In Wheel Well Of Plane

This story makes me cringe on so many levels because it makes no DAMN SENSE. A crazy, irrational 16-year-old boy just itching to pull off a ridiculous stunt succeeded on Sunday: He hid in the wheel well of a jet plane and flew from California to Hawaii.

Yes, you read this right. The teen was able to survive a lack of oxygen and freezing temperatures at 38,000 feet as a stowaway in the wheel well of a plane. He arrived safely to the destination five and a half hours later.

The shenanigans started when the teen ran away from home in Santa Clara, California, after arguing with his parents:

Security footage from San Jose airport shows him hopping a fence and climbing aboard Hawaiian Airlines Flight 45. He was unconscious throughout most of the trip. “Doesn’t even remember the flight,” Simon said. “It’s amazing he survived that.”

Just”¦ Oh my God. The teen was discovered after the plane landed in Maui. Airplane personnel found him wandering around the grounds and were forced to call security. The boy was questioned by the FBI and later released to child protective services. He has not been charged yet.

It is stories like this that make me quiver in my yoga pants. I’m already trying to deal with two male toddlers who do the craziest things and normally spend the afternoon trying to choke each other out. My husband reassures me that this is the plight of boy children and that it’s no big deal. I also have a younger brother who was known for doing the wildest things, though this stowaway puts him to shame.

There’s no telling why this teenager decided to pull a life-threatening stunt. I remember vividly being a teenager and wanting to do strange, new, and wonderful things. However, I don’t think stowing away in the wheel well of a Hawaii-bound plane ever crossed my mind.

So, now I have something new to look out for in a decade or so when my sons become teenagers. Talk to them about sex education? Check. Teach them not to drink and drive? Check. Tell them not to stow away in the wheel well of a plane?!?! Ugh, please tell me this isn’t going to happen again.

(Image: Senohrabek/Shutterstock)