Tonga over

Western Samoa

W. Samoa haunts

dead stowaway

Western Samoa’s Polynesian Airlines wants compensation from Tonga for not preventing a stowaway hiding in one of its aircraft and forcing it to crash land..

The Polynesian Boeing 737-300 made an emergency landing at Apia’s Faleolo airport on September 14 after its right landing gear was jammed by the body of a dead stowaway, who climbed into a wheel well before the plane’s take-off

from Tonga.

The damaged aircraft, the financially stricken Polynesian’s only jet, was out of action for two weeks after being forced to land on its nose wheel and the left hand undercarriage.

Tonga’s director of civil aviation, John Best, says the Tongan government received a letter indicating the possibili ty of a compensation claim. Best said Fua’amotu airport complies with securi ty standards set by the international Civil Aviation Organisation, and has passed inspections by New Zealand and United States authorities.