THE stowaway who slipped inside a Singapore Airlines (SIA) cargo jet last week, may have done so in Bangalore in India, and not in the Middle East, as previously thought.

This likelihood emerged when Dubai media reported on Monday that the man, believed to be an Indian national, was deported to Bangalore on Sunday.

While investigations are still under way, it is noteworthy that he was not charged under United Arab Emirates (UAE) laws.

He may have, in fact, been on board the cargo jet for some eight hours on that flight last Tuesday.

A typical cargo flight from Bangalore to Sharjah takes about five hours and a plane is on the ground for about two hours while cargo is being unloaded.

On that flight last week, the jet had only a pilot and a first officer, and no other crew. It was about an hour into the seven-hour flight from Sharjah to Amsterdam when the first officer found the man seated in one of the six passenger seats which should have been empty.

An SIA spokesman told The Straits Times the man was assessed to be 'not a threat'.

Still, as a precaution, the plane turned back to Sharjah - which is about 20km from Dubai. The man was then taken away by the police there.

Most other stowaways have been found in the wheel well or in the cargo hold of an aircraft, be it a passenger or cargo plane.

At Changi Airport last month, a man fell out of the nose-wheel well of an SIA passenger plane from Kuala Lumpur. That stowaway, a Palestinian, was sent back to Malaysia where he was charged with trespassing.

But the latest incident is believed to be the first time a stowaway has managed to get as far as the passenger seats, albeit on a minimally crewed cargo jet, within several metres of the pilots, during a flight.

The incident raises the issue of security for cargo pilots. Unlike passenger planes, cockpit doors protecting pilots are not mandatory for cargo planes.

The Straits Times understands that the aircraft in last week's incident does not have cockpit doors.