Stowaway Calif. Teen Opens Up About Flight to Hawaii in Plane Wheel Well

The California teen who stowed away on a Hawaiian Airlines flight from San Jose to Maui is returning to his regular everyday routine but took some time to open up about his experience, KPIX 5 reports. Suggested Reading How Tina Knowles Schooled Folks Hating on Beyoncรฉ For Singing the National Anthem on Tour What’s Happening…

The California teen who stowed away on a Hawaiian Airlines flight from San Jose to Maui is returning to his regular everyday routine but took some time to open up about his experience, KPIX 5 reports.

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โ€œI took that plane because it was the closest one I could find that was going to go west,โ€ Yahye Abdi, a Somali immigrant, told the news station Tuesday.

The 15-year-old said that he was not afraid during the hazardous trip, where he crouched in the jetโ€™s wheel well for more than five hours.

โ€œIt was above the clouds, I could see through the little holes,โ€ Yahye said.ย He said he had covered his ears when the plane took off, before he lost consciousnessโ€”surviving in the unpressurized area, where temperatures can fall below zero.

Yahye has since regained his hearing and has been given a clean bill of health. He did, however, counter his fatherโ€™s story that he ran away from home because of difficulties at school, insisting that he was unhappy with his stepmom and missed his mom.

โ€œI only did it because I didnโ€™t want to live with my stepmom. Second of all, I wanted to find my mom. I havenโ€™t seen her since I was young,โ€ he told KPIX 5.

His birth mother, whom he hasnโ€™t since he was 7, lives in a refugee camp in Ethiopia.

Despite seeming nonchalant about his death-defying feat, the teen did have a word of caution to those who might be thinking about running away.

โ€œThey shouldnโ€™t run away because sometimes they will end up dying,โ€ Yahye warned.

Read more at KPIX 5.

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