AMSTERDAM (REUTERS, AFP) - A stowaway was discovered in the wheel section under the front of a Cargolux freight plane that arrived at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport from Africa on Sunday (Jan 23), Dutch military police said.

"The man is doing well considering the circumstances and has been taken to a hospital," the police, who are in charge of Dutch border control, said in a statement.

Marechausse spokesman Joanna Helmonds said the man's age and nationality had not yet been determined.

"Our first concern of course was for his health," she said.

"This is definitely very unusual that someone was able to survive the cold at such a height - very, very unusual."

A spokesman for freight carrier Cargolux confirmed in an email that the stowaway had been on a flight operated by Cargolux Italia.

"We are not in a position to make any further comment until the authorities and the airline have completed their investigtion," they said.

The only Cargolux freight flight arriving at Schiphol on Sunday was a Boeing 747 freighter that travelled from Johannesburg and made a stop in Nairobi, Kenya, according to Schiphol's website and flight tracking data.

A spokesman for the airport declined to answer questions about the incident.

Flight times between Johannesburg and Amsterdam average about 11 hours.

Stowaways on flights to the Netherlands are rare, the police spokesman said, noting that previous attempts had involved would-be migrants from Nigeria and Kenya.

Last year, border police discovered the body of a Nigerian man in the landing gear of a plane arriving at Schiphol airport.