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Airline Pilots Landing At LAX Report "A Guy In Jetpack" Flying Alongside Them


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2020 Sep 1, 7:45am   624 views  3 comments

by Patrick   ➕follow (55)   💰tip   ignore  

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/36096/airline-pilots-landing-at-lax-report-a-guy-in-jetpack-flying-alongside-them-on

As if 2020 couldn't get any weirder, airline pilots landing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Sunday, August 30th, reported seeing "a guy in a jetpack" flying about 300 yards off their wing while on final approach to the bustling airport. What makes the reports even stranger is that, like a scene out of The Rocketeer, the airliners were descending through 3,000 feet when jetpack guy showed up next to them.

Fox 11 broke the story and has the air traffic control audio clips which you can listen to here. The exchanges went like this according to their report:

American Flight 1997: "Tower, American 1997, we just passed a guy in a jetpack."

Tower: "American 1997, OK, thank you. Were they off to your left or right side?"

American Flight 1997: "Off the left side, maybe 300 yards or so, about our altitude."

Fox 11 reports a Skywest pilot confirmed the sighting:

Skywest Flight: "We just saw the guy passing by us in the jetpack."

Then the tower alerted an incoming Jet Blue flight to the reported hazard:

Tower: "Jet Blue 23, use caution, a person in a jetpack reported 300 yards south of the LA final at about 3,000 feet, 10 mile final."

Jet Blue 23: "Jet Blue 23, we heard and we are definitely looking."

Another pilot chimed in: "Only in LA."

The airspace around LAX is some of the busiest and most complex in the United States. Having some dude barreling through the skies in some sort of a jetpack around the approach path to the airport, especially at the same altitude as the aircraft that are making their way through the landing corridor, isn't just bonkers, it's absolutely dangerous.

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1   WookieMan   2020 Sep 1, 8:20am  

Patrick says
The airspace around LAX is some of the busiest and most complex in the United States. Having some dude barreling through the skies in some sort of a jetpack around the approach path to the airport, especially at the same altitude as the aircraft that are making their way through the landing corridor, isn't just bonkers, it's absolutely dangerous.

Yes. I sound like a little kid, but I do have my FAA Drone Pilot license. I don't even know if I'd feel comfortable flying my drone in much of coastal CA from SF south to the border. Way too much traffic and I don't think a lot of people understand the consequences of playing around with drones and in this case I guess a fucking jet pack. It's a pretty serious thing when you factor most big things in the air are worth a million plus easy and could be carrying 500 people. You go to jail and your life is ova.
2   Automan Empire   2020 Sep 1, 8:34am  

Reminds me of the infamous Lawnchair Larry event in LA airspace. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawnchair_Larry_flight

Whenever a car chase passes the LAX approach corridor, the helicopters have to maneuver around it.

Surprised there's a functional jetpack in LA capable of cruising at 3000ft and returning to earth safely.
3   WookieMan   2020 Sep 1, 8:50am  

Automan Empire says
Surprised there's a functional jetpack in LA capable of cruising at 3000ft and returning to earth safely.

Could have been dropped from another plane like those Emirates commercials with the jetpack wing suits. May have actually been something like that and ATC didn't get notified along the chain of communication. Given it's LA I wouldn't be surprised if it was for a movie or commercial and maybe the stunt guy was fucking around. That would be an epic failure though on multiple levels though and unlikely.

Or maybe the flights were coming from legal weed states and the pilots took some edibles. I've accidentally brought them through airports at least 5-6 times now and never been caught. Drug dogs have sniffed bags I've had them in. So wouldn't be shocked if pilots are getting high now instead of the old days of pounding some beer at the bar before the flight. Edibles can have a hallucination effect if you take a lot.

www.youtube.com/embed/_VPvKl6ezyc

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