Man Flying In A ‘Jetpack’ Spotted Near LAX Airport At 3,000 Feet In The Air

As an American Airlines flight approached Los Angeles International Airport on the evening of August 31, its pilots spotted what appeared to be a man wearing a jetpack, hovering nearly 3,000 feet in the air. The man remains unidentified as of yet, but authorities are said to be investigating the matter.

Fox 11 Los Angeles reported on Sunday that the pilots of American Airlines flight 1997 informed a local air traffic control tower crew that a man flying a jetpack was spotted “300 yards or so” away from their plane. The pilots were within 10 miles of the final stretch and preparing to land at Los Angeles International Airport when they encountered the person in question. The same tower crew later cautioned Jet Blue flight of the event and confirmed that the man was indeed hovering about 3,000 feet, a height that could pose danger to any plane flying too closely.

Dr. Seth Young, a professor and McConnell Chair of Aviation at Ohio State University, highlighted the danger that flying objects such as birds or drones already cause in tight air spaces already shared with commercial airlines. “The risk is obviously having a collision with that airplane or getting a drone, or the person getting ingested into an engine” that poses the most danger,” Young said. “Due to this hazardous event, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Federal Aviation Administration have both opened cases regarding the matter, with the Los Angeles Police Department allegedly involved as well.

The jet pack spotted by the American Airlines pilots only approached about a fifth of the recorded height of the models owned by the nearby JetPack Aviation in San Fernando Valley that also allow for about 10 minutes of flight before descent. David Mayman, the founder of the company that owns “the world’s only JetPack,” chastised the actions of this mystery flyer as being “reckless” for operating his equipment in such a manner.