>> 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.
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.
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?”
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.
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.
Reminds me of lawn chair Larry.
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.
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.
This sort of cowboying is how cool technologies end up getting banned and set back years.
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...
Maybe an RC plane like this? https://youtu.be/P5xPtOAbt70?t=35
At least mostly foam board.
I recognize those 'jetcat' engines.
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
Glad to see Spirit Airlines is back in business.
There are toy drones shaped like a guy in a jetpack.
Not sure they go high enough though.
I guess Elon finally finished the Mark II.
Until a humanoid balloon inflated with helium is definitely ruled out, that's my default assumption.
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.
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.
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.
My money's on this guy: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCkHr2Z0JWH8KGmQNDp4QXLw
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?
There is also Richard Browning in the UK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAJM5L9hhBs
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!
I've always been of the belief that a jetpack could never exist until flame-proof pants/trousers were made first.
I would imagine there are passengers who caught this guy on camera. Would love to see some footage.
I am glad they saw me because I took a power nap around 3000ft alt. Cool beans.
So, which one of you was this?
If someone wanted to fake this as a prank, could it be something attached to a drone?
It's 2020 guys. Haven't you seen that documentary Iron Man yet?
The two video trailers at the end of the article are pretty fun to watch.
Inflatable display got loose?
C'mon, Elon.
It’s like the Liar Liar scene but with a jet pack.
Is Disney doing another reboot of the Rocketeer?
Elon?
How are there no passenger videos?
People are Awesome...
The Rocketeer.
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.
I've seen speculation that it's one of those person shaped disney balloons they sell at grocery stores.
That report would have put the jetpack guy right over south-central. Who would fly in that neighborhood?
So that’s how you properly fly the IRNMN2 arrival...
The Rocketeer is a great movie :)
I feel like I'm in a fucking clown land.
There was no guy in a jet pack flying along side them.
It'll be something big a long distance away.
It's good they accurately reported what they saw. And that's fun. But it's also not real.
Any pilots want to chime in? Surely you get training in optical errors. And would the second pilot have heard the first report?
Sacha Baron Cohen.
2020 gonna 2020.
Tony Stark ?
Maybe it was Elon Musk, bored with the Pig already ?
And nobody on the plane recorded it?
Its LA some rich kids are having some risky fun
Which brings up a question of why multi-million dollar airlines don't have "dash cams"
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!"
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.
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.