It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, wait…it’s a man in a jetpack? A mysterious man is either very bold or very stupid after buzzing two jetliners on final approach at LAX in a jetpack.
Pilots See Man In Jetpack During Final Approach To LAX
During final approach on Sunday night, AA1997 from Philadelphia to Los Angeles reported a man in jetpack hovering only 300 yards away from their aircraft at about 3,000 feet.
“Tower, American 1997, we just passed a guy in a jetpack.”
A SkyWest pilot also sighted the UFO.
You can listen to the Air Traffic Control audio here:
Jetpacks can travel 3,000 feet in the air (in fact, they can travel up to 6,000 feet). It is unlikely that two pilots were just dreaming. Perhaps it was a dummy affixed to a drone, but it sounds like something Sam Chui might do! 😉
On a very serious note, this sounds like some sort of prank or social media stunt. Who else would jeopardize their own life or the life of others without a sadistic death wish? Get too close to the A321 jet engine and whoosh…
It appears that no one is taking responsibility for investigating this. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) claims it turned over the file to the Los Angeles Airport Police Division (LAXPD) for investigation. But LAXPD says it received nothing from the FAA and was not aware of the controversy. Meanwhile, American Airlines will not comment, redirecting questions to the FAA. Perhaps your humble correspondent will have to set up his own sting operation…
CONCLUSION
I hope the guy had his fun and got it out of his system, but I’m sure it was an adrenaline rush like nothing else when AA1997 flew by so close. But while 300 yards is more than enough social distancing for people, it is not nearly enough distance for an engine on final approach. Dude, stay away from LAX.
image: Adobe Stock
It’s crazy to me that during all this time no one seemed to be doing anything about this.
30o yards from the plane ? Umm not sure how a jetpack could survive the jetliner wake turbulence .
Wake Turblence has crashed actual airplanes
A person can be very bold AND very stupid at the same time. This guy seems to fit both criteria.
Wake turbulence isn’t that big of a deal most of the time, all you have to do is stay above/in front of the course of the airplane and you’ll be fine. Also, the plane was probably pretty light at the time. If you’re interested, there’s more info on wake turbulence in FAA AC90-23G.
Somebody has been rewatching The Rocketeer way too much.
I’m thinking more like the seamstress from “The Incredibles:” NO CAPES!!!!
Does anyone doubt that SpaceX, located down the freeway, has such toys? Anyone check Elon musk alibi? Lol
If it’s not Space-X down the street then it’s Raytheon with their secret hangar at LAX. Both are suspect to me, but I want one!
I think its cool!I’m high again. Ozzy
I love how the FAA is acting like these pilots (2 SEPARATE pilots) didn’t actually know what they were seeing. Is no one worried that this was a trial run for a terrorist attack? Maybe they’ve created their own jet pack and decided to test just how close they could get to an airplane over a crowded metropolitan area. The landing zone for LAX crosses over the Forum and the new Rams football stadium – would make quite a spectacular and deadly attack to blow up a plane overhead as it lands.
Soo cool how many people in there life could pull that off??? And the FBI is asking for our help? Really let the guy live it up he hits a 747 and dies what is the harm ? Have fun dude , good luck FBI its a guy with a jet pack 6000 ft above the earth flying with jumbo jets.you guys cant catch half the bank robbers in california on the ground!!!#