Body falls from Kenya Airways plane into London garden shortly before aircraft lands at Heathrow

The body of a stowaway crash-landed in a London garden after plummeting from the undercarriage of a Kenya Airlines jet as it approached Heathrow Airport following a nine-hour flight from Nairobi, officials said Monday.

The remains of an unidentified man were found outside of a residential property in Clapham, south London, and were later traced back to the aircraft, the Associated Press reports. Supplies including a bag, water and food were discovered in the plane's landing-gear compartment upon its arrival at Heathrow.

Officials with the Metropolitan Police said an autopsy would be conducted to determine whether the man died before falling from the aircraft.

In a statement obtained by the Daily Mail, Kenya Airlines said local authorities were in contact with the Kenya High Commission to help identify the victim.

"It is unfortunate that a person has lost his life by stowing aboard one of our aircraft and we express our condolences," the airline added.

Stowing away in a plane's undercarriage comes with an extremely high risk of mortality. According to the Associated Press, roughly three-quarters of stowaways do not survive the dangerous journey because of the extreme cold and lack of oxygen as the plane reaches cruising altitude.

In September 2012, a similar fatality occurred when 30-year-old Jose Matada, of Mozambique, died after falling from the undercarriage of a Heathrow-bound flight from Angola. It took six months to identify his body, the Guardian reports.