Bad idea all around. Could have easily been frozen or asphyxiated even if the trip was on a quick single flight. Nobody looks at a crate if there's a decompression event. Not even an emergency escape in the crate. Oof.
"Thinking things all the way through" isn't a common trait in any 19 year old men I've known over the years, to include myself a few decades ago.
"Oh, man, that sounds like it should work!" is a lot more likely. And, you know, it usually does!
Technically, his scheme did "work". Though it wasn't what we might call an unqualified success...