The body of a stowaway dressed in a Gatwick Airport service firm's uniform has been found at a US airport.

The dead man had been crouched in the wheel well of a US Airways Boeing 767-200 jet which left the Sussex airport at 12.14pm yesterday.

The aircraft stopped at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, then carried on to San Francisco, where the body was found.

John Ellis, for US Airways, said the plane had been guarded from the time it arrived at Gatwick at 5.38am yesterday until it took off.

He said: "We are co-operating fully with police inquiries."

After leaving Gatwick yesterday the jet arrived at Pittsburgh at 4.04pm local time, took off again at 5.38pm and landed in San Francisco at 8.58pm.

The dead man is understood to have been dressed in the overalls of Gatwick ground handling company Servisair.

Police are investigating whether he is the same person who was discovered in a restricted area of the airport on Sunday. The intruder was arrested and released on bail.

Servisair spokesman Tony Brunskill said none of the company's workers was missing.

He said: "There is a rumour the stowaway was wearing our uniform. We are investigating this possibility."

A Gatwick spokeswoman said the airport was working with US Airways and the police to determine what had happened.

She said: "Until that investigation is concluded there is little we can add."

This is believed to be the first time a stowaway has left Gatwick clinging to the undercarriage of a jet.

At Christmas two teenage Cuban stowaways died trying to reach the USA via Gatwick.

The body of Maikel Almira, 16, fell from a Mexico-bound Boeing 777 at Oakwood Hill, Surrey, on Christmas Eve. Alberto Rodriguez, 15, was found on the runway at Gatwick the following day.