Somali teen stowaway on flight to Hawaii desperate to see mother, tired of US life

SAN JOSE, Calif. – He was young, displaced and frustrated, and he wanted nothing more than to reunite with his mother in their native Africa.

The 15-year-old Somali boy had been arguing at home, and in the kind of impulsive move that teenagers make, he hopped a fence at San Jose International Airport last Sunday and clambered into a wheel well of a Hawaii-bound jetliner. He survived the trip, and he has not spoken publicly about the ordeal.

But his desperation and frustration is becoming apparent through interviews with friends, family and law enforcement agents.

A Muslim leader in San Jose who knows the family says the stowaway incident should be viewed as a story of a teenager who is emotionally attached to his mother and grandparents.