Youth "lucky to be alive" after five-and-a-half hour California-to-Hawaii flight at altitudes of up to 11,000 metres. Last updated: 21 Apr 2014 11:47

The youth spent more than five hours in the wheel well [AP]

A teenager has survived a trip across the Pacific Ocean hiding in the wheel well of an airliner, enduring frigid temperatures and a lack of oxygen at altitudes of 11,000 metres, authorities say. The boy was found wandering around Maui airport on Sunday night after his five-and-a-half-hour flight from San Jose, California, Tom Simon, an FBI spokesman, said. Doesn't even remember the flight... kid's lucky to be alive. FBI spokesman, Tom Simon.