from Hacker News

Airline pilots landing at LAX report “a guy in jetpack” flying alongside them

by x43b on 9/1/20, 1:31 PM with 473 comments

  • by peeters on 9/1/20, 3:08 PM

    Took me a while to find on LiveATC as this wasn't actually on the Tower frequency, but here is the full feed: http://archive-server.liveatc.net/klax/KLAX-Final-Aug-31-202.... At 5:23.

    Unfortunately their web player is not linkable, but this is the KLAX North/South Final Approach feed (https://www.liveatc.net/archive.php?m=klax6) from Aug 31, 0130-0200 UTC.

  • by sandworm101 on 9/1/20, 2:13 PM

    >> They are also very high-profile in nature and require a mothership to launch from, such as a helicopter, or at least a very high point to leap from.

    No. Yves "Jetman" Rossi's design can now launch from a standing position on the ground. It is able to launch, hover, transition to forward flight and zoom-climb to several thousand feet. Other than the landing, which is currently still via parachute ... ironman.

  • by Johnny555 on 9/1/20, 3:25 PM

    As amusing as this is, it highlights how fragile air travel is -- someone managed to fly a 200 lb payload within a couple hundred feet of an airliner on final approach. And apparently did so anonymously since there was no mention of who or exactly what it was.

    It wouldn't be hard to maneuver it right in front of the airliner and cause a collision. While the aircraft would likely survive an engine strike, at only a few thousand feet of altitude it doesn't give much time to recover.

  • by elteto on 9/1/20, 2:23 PM

    ATCs have a reputation for never losing their cool and that really shines through here:

    “Tower, there’s a guy in a jetpack flying outside.”

    “Copy. To your left or your right?”

  • by princekolt on 9/1/20, 2:24 PM

    I don't think there's any question the pilots would describe it as "a guy in a jetpack" if they weren't sure that's what they were looking at. Spotting traffic around the plane is part of pilot training.

    With that being said, if it zipped by the plane very quickly, there's the possibility it was maybe a very large RC plane shaped like a guy in a jetpack, which I think could be a bit more plausible.

  • by callumprentice on 9/1/20, 2:24 PM

    I don’t imagine it was these guys but another “Ironman” type flight suit I’ve been following is the tech from https://gravity.co/ - it looks like so much fun although I’m sure it’s much harder to use that the videos suggest.

  • by throwaway9870 on 9/1/20, 3:35 PM

  • by mdorazio on 9/1/20, 2:16 PM

    I'm surprised that there's not a single picture of this from any of the passengers on the landing flight and that ATC didn't seem to confirm it via radar, either.

  • by ohples on 9/1/20, 3:52 PM

    How is it 2020 and no one got a video of this. Hopefully some airport security camera got it, and they will release the video at some point.

  • by bgun on 9/1/20, 2:22 PM

    This sort of cowboying is how cool technologies end up getting banned and set back years.

  • by peter303 on 9/2/20, 4:17 AM

    A hoverboard with fuel container on back looks like a jetpack. One guy crossed the English Channel on one in two hops. He had to refuel midway. Thats more distance in a flying device than I had heard before.

    https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/4/20753648/jet-powered-hover...

  • by anotheryou on 9/1/20, 5:24 PM

    Maybe an RC plane like this? https://youtu.be/P5xPtOAbt70?t=35

    At least mostly foam board.

  • by snarfy on 9/1/20, 2:23 PM

    I recognize those 'jetcat' engines.

    https://www.jetcat.de

  • by ggm on 9/2/20, 7:06 AM

    If we have come to the place where individuals can violate controlled airspace either in a flying suit or a drone and our reaction is to shut down transport, we've come to a very strange place. I say this because some responses here are exploring the catastrophic consequences. Catastrophic consequence in flights are a fact of life.

    We've had these consequences for some time, in other ways which really aren't that different. You can buy materiel on the open market and devices like drones without gps lockouts, or I guess flying suits.

    El-Al has been flying at a higher risk profile than others for some time. So has cargo in the "stans" and the middle east and Africa. I'm not saying "shoot him down" is the best choice but there surely exist a range of choices here up to and including defensive action?

    Commercial ships can request rights to armed force on deck in the pirate zones. Lethal force. We lock the guns up otherwise but the reasons the Gatling guns are fitted (if that's what they are) are understood. Aircraft can have anti missile systems. We've had that for years.

    I think the ways we will deal with this will be broadly similar - perimeter defences, on aircraft detection systems, IFF and boots on the ground.

    We probably don't have a systemic risk profile change here beyond the breakdown in the social contract: its funny to play but things work better when grown-ups don't do some things. Maybe 2nd amendment rights to a flying suit as a weapon is a thing?

    WINGMAN FUNNY NOT FUNNY

  • by nimbius on 9/1/20, 5:32 PM

    Glad to see Spirit Airlines is back in business.

  • by lawlessone on 9/1/20, 2:29 PM

    There are toy drones shaped like a guy in a jetpack.

    Not sure they go high enough though.

  • by ethbr0 on 9/1/20, 2:16 PM

    I guess Elon finally finished the Mark II.

  • by mannykannot on 9/2/20, 1:50 AM

    Until a humanoid balloon inflated with helium is definitely ruled out, that's my default assumption.

  • by sizzle on 9/2/20, 7:50 AM

    Why didn't the FAA get the cops or military to scramble some jets to apprehend this individual? How is this not a national security threat?? Who knows if they were strapped with IED type device.

  • by LinuxBender on 9/1/20, 8:19 PM

    Every inch of that airport and all runways are covered by video cameras, many of them. There should be no ambiguity here. Let's hope they release the footage.

  • by yalogin on 9/1/20, 4:37 PM

    Wow are they supposed to be this emotionless when talking to pilots? Its amazing how calm they were even after hearing a person in jetpack.

  • by dreamcompiler on 9/1/20, 2:55 PM

  • by wonderwonder on 9/2/20, 3:48 AM

    Do we think this is going to get elevated to a major plot line in this season of "2020: The longest year" or just fizzle out unexpectedly like the Murder Hornets episode?

  • by grumblepeet on 9/1/20, 2:43 PM

    There is also Richard Browning in the UK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAJM5L9hhBs

  • by shadowgovt on 9/1/20, 3:49 PM

    Does the government have the legal and executive resources it needs to investigate these claims of rocketeering in the airline industry?

    Serious allegations if true!

  • by dghughes on 9/1/20, 2:29 PM

    I've always been of the belief that a jetpack could never exist until flame-proof pants/trousers were made first.

  • by krm01 on 9/1/20, 8:27 PM

    I would imagine there are passengers who caught this guy on camera. Would love to see some footage.

  • by prtkgpt on 9/3/20, 12:32 PM

    I am glad they saw me because I took a power nap around 3000ft alt. Cool beans.

  • by sahoo on 9/2/20, 11:53 AM

    So, which one of you was this?

  • by TazeTSchnitzel on 9/1/20, 4:01 PM

    If someone wanted to fake this as a prank, could it be something attached to a drone?

  • by tus88 on 9/2/20, 1:38 AM

    It's 2020 guys. Haven't you seen that documentary Iron Man yet?

  • by zw123456 on 9/1/20, 2:02 PM

    The two video trailers at the end of the article are pretty fun to watch.

  • by Animats on 9/1/20, 5:47 PM

    Inflatable display got loose?

  • by cronix on 9/2/20, 3:56 AM

    C'mon, Elon.

  • by nestlequ1k on 9/1/20, 3:50 PM

    It’s like the Liar Liar scene but with a jet pack.

  • by topkai22 on 9/1/20, 3:23 PM

    Is Disney doing another reboot of the Rocketeer?

  • by markstos on 9/1/20, 11:54 PM

    Elon?

  • by josephpmay on 9/1/20, 2:17 PM

    How are there no passenger videos?

  • by hourislate on 9/1/20, 2:06 PM

    People are Awesome...

  • by tibbydudeza on 9/1/20, 9:17 PM

    The Rocketeer.

  • by IgorPartola on 9/1/20, 2:10 PM

    You know it’s true because it’s 2020. Remember that whole alien thing back in April? Me neither because about 10 years worth of events has happened in the past four and a half months.

  • by AS126 on 9/1/20, 4:09 PM

    I've seen speculation that it's one of those person shaped disney balloons they sell at grocery stores.

  • by SeanFerree on 9/1/20, 7:36 PM

    The Rocketeer is a great movie :)

  • by peterkelly on 9/1/20, 3:09 PM

    Sacha Baron Cohen.

  • by dhosek on 9/1/20, 2:58 PM

    2020 gonna 2020.

  • by 2rsf on 9/1/20, 1:38 PM

    Tony Stark ?

  • by tezza on 9/1/20, 5:01 PM

    Maybe it was Elon Musk, bored with the Pig already ?

  • by tiku on 9/1/20, 2:47 PM

    And nobody on the plane recorded it?

  • by mas3god on 9/1/20, 2:17 PM

    Its LA some rich kids are having some risky fun

  • by ck2 on 9/1/20, 2:33 PM

    Which brings up a question of why multi-million dollar airlines don't have "dash cams"

  • by jansan on 9/1/20, 2:29 PM

    Bicycle Repair Man comes to mind.

    "Look! Is it a stockbroker? Is it a quantity surveyor? Is it a church warden? NO! It's Bicycle Repair Man!"

    https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2howud

  • by degenerate on 9/1/20, 2:45 PM

    Nobody is going to mention how this is an overly-hyped PR stunt?

    edit: Nevermind, I thought the embedded youtube videos in the article was footage of the event described in the article. I didn't realize the video footage was a separate flight from 2015.