Stowaway's father says son missed Africa
Stowaway's father says son missed Africa and was struggling in school
A 15-year-old boy, seen sitting on a stretcher center, who stowed away in the wheel well of a flight from San Jose, Calif., to Maui is loaded into an ambulance at Kahului Airport in Kahului, Maui, Hawaii Sunday afternoon, April 20, 2014. The boy survived the trip halfway across the Pacific Ocean unharmed despite frigid temperatures at 38,000 feet and a lack of oxygen, FBI and airline officials said. FBI spokesman Tom Simon in Honolulu told The Associated Press on Sunday night that the boy was questioned by the FBI after being discovered on the tarmac at the Maui airport with no identification. "Kid's lucky to be alive," Simon said. (AP Photo/The Maui News, Chris Sugidono)
HONOLULU (AP) -- The father of a teenager who survived a flight from California to Hawaii tucked in a jetliner's wheel well has told Voice of America his son missed Africa, where he used to live, and was struggling in school.
Voice of America reported Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1igj8F8) that Abdilahi Yusuf Abdi of Santa Clara, Calif., said his 15-year-old son was always talking about going back to Africa, where his grandparents live.
A school official says the boy came to the U.S. four years ago.
Law enforcement officials say the boy climbed into the wheel well before the plane took off for Maui on Sunday morning. Officials say video shows the boy jumping out of the plane after landing.
Abdi told VOA that Honolulu police notified him Sunday of his son's journey. The teen remains hospitalized in Honolulu.
