Two men were found dead in the landing gear compartment of a JetBlue plane in Florida during routine postflight inspections Monday, officials said.
Their identities and the circumstances of their deaths were unclear and are under investigation, Broward County sheriff’s spokesperson Carey Codd said at a news conference Tuesday morning.
Codd said paramedics declared the two men dead after sheriff's deputies responded to a call at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport about 11:30 p.m. Monday.
Codd said the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office will perform autopsies to determine the causes of death.
JetBlue said in a statement that officials were investigating how they accessed the aircraft.
"This is a heartbreaking situation, and we are committed to working closely with authorities to support their efforts to understand how this occurred," it said.
JetBlue said the plane had most recently flown to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York with the flight number 1801.
A spokesperson for the Florida airport said that airport operations were not disrupted and that the passengers had already departed when the bodies were found.