Police release e-fit in bid to identify 'Kenyan' who fell from plane

17 October 2019, 16:09

Police are trying to establish the victim's identity
Police are trying to establish the victim's identity. Picture: Metropolitan police

By Asher McShane

Police have released an e-fit image as they try to identify the body of a man who fell from a plane into the back garden of a home in London, narrowly missing a sunbather.

Software engineer John Baldock miraculously survived when the man’s body fell from the plane in July.

The stowaway’s body fell from the Kenya Airways plane and left a crater in the garden of the property in Clapham, one metre from Mr Baldock.

Items found in the plane's undercarriage after it landed at Heathrow
Items found in the plane's undercarriage after it landed at Heathrow. Picture: Metropolitan Police

Neighbours said he was left ‘trembling’ according to the London Evening Standard, after the body fell close to him while he was sunbathing.

The force of the impact left a crater in the lawn and cracked paving stones in a path.

Police today released an e-fit of the deceased in an effort to establish the man’s identity.

The MCA marking found on the strap of his rucksack
The MCA marking found on the strap of his rucksack. Picture: Metropolitan Police

Police said the man was wearing a blue ‘MCA softball’ sweater, and they found a bag in the plane’s landing gear with the letters MCA woven into the fabric.

Police said the man had fallen from the landing gear of the plane and they found the bag when the plane touched down at Heathrow Airport.

The bag contained a small amount of Kenyan currency, police said.

Officers say they think the man is from Kenya.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “Police were called at 15:39hrs on Sunday 30 June to a residential address in Offerton Road, Clapham, after a body was discovered in a garden.

Officers attended with the London Ambulance Service.

The body of a man, believed to be aged in his 30s, was found. A post-mortem examination held on 3 July gave cause of death as multiple injuries.

The man is believed to have fallen from the landing gear compartment as the aircraft approached Heathrow Airport.

The flight was a Kenyan Airways flight from Nairobi to Heathrow Airport.

The death is not being treated as suspicious and we continue to liaise with the Coroner.

Detective Sergeant Paul Graves, of the South Central Command Unit, said: “We have pursued a number of lines of inquiry in what has been a very sad incident to investigate.

“This man has a family somewhere who need to know what has happened to their loved one.

“Our investigation has included liaison with the authorities in Kenya, from where the flight took off, but so far our efforts to identify this man have proved fruitless.

“I hope by releasing this e-fit someone known to the deceased will recognise him and make contact.”

Anyone who can assist the investigation is asked to call police on 101 ref CAD 5395/30 June.