Click to enlarge — Justin Tallis/AFP

A suspected stowaway has been found on the roof of a west London office building after plunging to his death from a British Airways flight.

The man is believed to have climbed on to the Boeing 747 before it flew more than 8,000 miles from Johannesburg in South Africa to Heathrow.

The victim fell on to the offices of the online marketplace Notonthehighstreet.com on a busy road below the flight path in Richmond, south-west London, on Thursday morning. Flight data reveals the plane would have been at an altitude of around 1,400ft when it passed over the area.

A second man, understood to be 24 years old, survived the journey and is in a serious condition in hospital. He is believed to have been found unconscious in the undercarriage of the plane at Heathrow before the other man’s body was discovered…

There was sympathy, too, from Hadt Khoshkbar, who runs a printing business next door to the Notonthehighstreet.com offices, recounting how he had come to the UK from Iran in 1976.

“This is at least the third time that bodies have fallen from aircraft in this area. The other one I can remember was in Mortlake,” he said…

Colin Naidoo, a spokesman for Airports Company South Africa, which manages Johannesburg’s OR Tambo airport, said authorities were still investigating how the stowaways made it past security…

There have been previous cases of stowaways plunging to their deaths in west London after smuggling themselves on to planes. They hide in the landing gear where they are exposed to the elements and endure sub-zero temperatures. Most are killed by the cold and lack of oxygen at high altitude.

Someone tells somebody else about this great idea about how to get to England or wherever dream jobs supposedly exist. And another someone who doesn’t know better tries it. And dies.