Leg falls from plane; lands in backyard

Body part falls from wheel well of plane, lands in Long Island, N.Y., backyard
at 15:19 on June 7, 2005, EST.

NEW YORK (AP) - A body part fell from the wheel well of a plane coming in for a landing on Tuesday at John F. Kennedy Airport and landed in a suburban backyard, authorities said.

More remains were found on a South African Airways flight after it landed at Kennedy, said Tony Ciavolella, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The South African Airways jet was lowering its landing gear when the body part fell out.

Police suspect the remains were of a male stowaway and the case was being investigated, the spokesman said.

Messages left with South African Airways were not immediately returned.

Police in Long Island's Nassau County received a call at 10:51 a.m. about a body part found in the backyard of a house. It apparently had hit the roof of a detached garage in Long Island and bounced to the ground, said Officer Thomas Blanchard.

A resident said she got home from work and saw the leg - with a sneaker on the foot - lying in the grass.

The South African Airways flight had originated in Johannesburg but made one stop in Dakar, Senegal.