Air France confirmed to the BBC that “the lifeless body of a stowaway” was discovered at Charles de Gaulle Airport.
The corpse was found in the well of the landing gear of the aircraft, which flew in from the Ivory Coast.
“The airline expresses their condolences and deplores this human tragedy,” Air France said in a tweet, without specifying the age of the child.
The National Gendarmerie confirmed that the body discovered was of “African origin”. An investigation into the incident is underway.
The Air France Boeing 777 had taken off from Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s main city, on Tuesday evening.
An Ivorian security source told the AFP news agency: “Aside from the human drama, this shows a major failing of security at Abidjan airport.”