Airline Pilots Landing At LAX Report “A Guy In Jetpack”
Flying Alongside Them
Skippy sends.
TYLER ROGOWAY
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.”
American Flight 1997, place your beverage back on the courtesy tray. Read the entire article here: The Drive
Thanks, Skippy.
Category: Blue Skies, General Whackos, Guest Link
Was that you Tristram Coffin flying around?? King of the Rocket Men Republic 1949 12 chapter Play serial. First flick Tristram didn’t play a heavy. Also shortest serial Republic ever made.
I actually saw a couple of those “Rocket Man” serials back in 1952 or ‘53 as a second feature at the local movie theater.
I loved that serial!
BHWHAHAHAHA !!!!!
Plenty of room for a couple of hardpoints.
I’m thinkin Sidewinders
Nah, ‘beans. Not Sidewinders. You know that a coupla Naval and Marine Aviators here would prefer to see the Maverick. That way they can really cook their goose and put Rocket Boy on ice, man.
There’s an instructional video that they love to watch and refer to. I think they are looking forward to seeing part deuce.
Shots fired.
Oh shit. Here we go again!🙃
Too heavy. The Sidewinder is only 125 lbs.
The one you mention ( I’m not going there)
is about 500 lbs.
500 lbs. is enough weight to take that little bird to the danger zone.
Yeppers, and when you’re having a ball at the beach, and you’re already lubed up…..
Don’t tell me you have lost that loving feeling, say it ain’t so.
I know the finger, Goose. Love that movie.
I hate you.
Aaaaaaggggghhhhhh!
It never ends.
The Stinger only weighs about 33 lbs. And yes, it could almost certainly be hardpoint-mounted; we already mount them on vehicles (Avenger).
Worked on those (a small part) during my former military industrial complex
days of which I now enjoy a generous pension.
I had no idea you could mount them on something.
Might be a little backblast issue.
They’ve rigged them to Apaches too. Two pair, one on each wingtip.
Hard points on Apache also for stinger also.
Firebirds Nick Cages best movie,,, EVER.
https://youtu.be/lyuULnLsc4w
Has its Nick Cage moments though:
All of the LA basin is controlled airspace. Even VFR flying light aircraft need a clearance from ATC to fly in it. Rocketman was violating federal law. He was only 300 yards away from the approaching airliner.
Not to mention he had a terminal case of the dumb shits.
I can think of at least six airports within a 10-mile radius of LAX, and one wrong move turns a good chunk of some neighborhood into San Diego ala PSA.
COVID, volcano sharks, riots, a star disappeared inexplicably, murder hornets, monkeys stealing COVID samples, the Polish army invaded the Czech Republic, and now a guy in a jet pack is buzzing the tower.
I’m done with 2020. Wake me when it’s over.
Word ^^^^
It will all be over when the MCPO Of The Navy releases a statement stating that he will posthumously award Daniel Bernath the title of Honorary Chief Petty Officer. Once that news comes out, the mothership will come down and retrieve the chosen ones.
I’m still predicting a Carrington Event at some point in the next 4 months.
Sleep well.
I loved that serial!
Just watched a bit of the “King of the Rocket Men”. Still fun.
Wonder if he’s related to Larry Walters?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawnchair_Larry_flight
Before I retired, I had two walls of home made book cases holding Republic, Universal and Mascot serials on VHS tapes plus some indies and silent ones. Couldn’t take them to Florida so I gave some away and shit canned the rest. Am trying to think if there was a fourth movie company that I also had but can’t remember.
My thought?
Proof of Concept for a terror strike.
YMMV
Sadly a very real possibility
Never could see the appeal of a jetpack. For one thing, not unlike the old Lockheed XFV and Convair XFY, taking off and flying around are one thing, but landing?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_XFY_Pogo
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_XFV
And besides that, say something goes wrong with your flying backpack. I’m guessing there’s not a whole lot of room for Plan-B in the event of an “oh shit” in flight.
If your jet pack conks, just call AAA for roadside assistance. They will respond with a spatula and a sponge.
I would think that the AAA decision to give roadside assistance to jet packers would be up in the air. Brings back before I retired their were a couple of incidents of Air planes coming into JFK and flying over Island Park and dumping stowaways into the bay and into a sports bar parking lot. They were supposed to open the wheel wells and lower the wheels WHILE over the Atlantic ocean so as to avoid the above incidents. The third one flew over Long Beach Hospital and a stowaway fell in the rear Hospital alley with a nice splatter on the walls. LBPD on the scene calls for LBFD lighting to the scene and Nassau County Detectives. I meet my Flood light rig at the scene which I transferred to after my rope slide broken heel incident back in 1986. We signed our names to the crime scene book and set up portable lights and stood by. A few hours later, the county bus shows up to bag and tag the guys remains. He walks over to us and asks if we had a wet vac on board which got a grave yard humor chuckle out of us. Thankfully he was a little frozen which would have been much worse if it was a short trip. Flight came from the Dominican Republic where he got into the wheel well. Originally a lady walking her dog saw it and said something and a nurse and Doctor came out where the Doc thought it was a High School prank but the Nurse saw what it was the real thing.
I’m surprised his pants didn’t catch on fire.
All-Points Logistics has no shortage of test pilots….
Flying sharks?
Q for you Airedale Zoomie types:
Would a jetpack appear on the controllers’ radar so that they at least would know something untoward was afloat?
Or does this violate OpSec?
I know they can see swarms of birds and clouds on the thing, so in theory yes. Whether that makes it through all the filters and what not to get noticed is the question. Could have also been a stealth jet pack. 😉
May have to improve Situational Awareness on this one.
Thanks, Mason.
Not if the individual is wearing camouflage clothing.
Speaking of camouflage clothing, the proud but humble woman owned business that sells software to the federal government formerly located in Bethesda Maryland has landed a contract to develop an “urban camouflage uniform” for US Armed Forces. The prototype is just some clothing purchased from the discount rack at J.C. Penny with random graffiti such as “BLM Matters”, “ACAB”, and “Fuck Da Polize” written with spray paint.
Likely too small a target to get a “skin paint” on ATC radars, and I doubt they carry a transponder along.
No Opsec violation thus far, and it’ll stay that way.
Alrighty then… Bigfoot or Elvis will make an appearance on Keeping Up with the Kardashians next.
Next? Disney sells the star Wars franchise to Glenn Beck.
Can’t be any worse than what Disney has done to the Star Wars franchise.
Or what CBS/Alex Kurtzman have done to the Star Trek franchise.
Tony Stark has a Malibu address. Just Iron Man testing new armor.
Meet George Jetson …
Ha Ha. Sorry Dude, but your’e late to the party. Not trying to get one up on jet pack guy, but let’s “kick it old school” and check out Larry’s story..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawnchair_Larry_flight