The noon news here (SF) just reported that the man had been identified as a man who had been detained at Gatwick the day before (for being in secure area of the airport), fingerprinted and let go.
Such a sad story. The news also pointed out that when the wheels retract (at 160 revs/min or some such) there is really no space btwn them and the plane for a body.
For what it's worth, it was the 3rd known incidence at LGW in the past few months. A Cuban stowaway fell onto farmland from a BA 777 arriving from Havana on Christmas eve last year. The body of yet another Cuban fell onto the runway as the same plane took off for Mexico.
