The two bodies found in the landing gear compartment of a JetBlue plane that landed at Florida’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport this week were badly decomposed, according to reports.

JetBlue Flight 1801 took off from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York at around 8:20 p.m. Monday and landed at 11:03 p.m., according to tracking website FlightAware. A routine post-flight inspection uncovered the two bodies.

“The individuals who (are) deceased are both males. Beyond that, their identities at this time are unknown,” Broward County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Carey Codd told CNN.

An unnamed law enforcement source also told CNN that the bodies were decomposed, which could mean they were in the landing gear area for multiple flights.

Earlier Monday, the plane flew from Kingston, Jamaica, to New York City followed by a pair of round-trip flights in between New York and Salt Lake City, according to FlightAware. After the plane returned from Utah, it flew to Fort Lauderdale.

The Transportation Security Administration told The Associated Press that it’s working with law enforcement, the Federal Aviation Administration, JetBlue and others to investigate the incident.

Jamaican officials have headed off speculation that the two deceased stowaways were Jamaican nationals.

“We have noted distressing reports in the media regarding the discovery of two deceased persons in the wheel well of an aircraft in Fort Lauderdale. While there is speculation regarding the nationalities of the persons found, our information to date is that this matter still remains unclear and there is no immediate basis on which to conclude that they are Jamaicans,” the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kamina Smith posted on X Tuesday.

A JetBlue spokesperson told Miami CBS affiliate WFOR-TV that neither of the deceased was employed by the airline.

The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office is performing an autopsy to find out the pair’s causes of death. The FAA found in a 2011 study that 80% of stowaways in wheel wells or other parts of the plane beyond the cabin and cargo hold died.

Stowaways trying to ride out a flight in those areas can die from being crushed by gear and wheels, from heat coming off the plane’s engines, and from lack of air and hypothermia at high altitudes.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.