Person Flying With Jetpack Spotted Near Los Angeles International Airport, Again

By Reese Oxner

Published October 15, 2020 at 3:18 PM EDT

Planes are not the only things flying over Los Angeles International Airport these days. A person wearing a jetpack has been spotted flying the friendly skies twice in two months.

A person was spotted soaring high above Southern California using a jetpack.

Again.

On Wednesday, for the second time in six weeks, an unidentified person was seen flying using a jetpack near Los Angeles International Airport. It's unclear whether this is the same individual who was recently spotted wearing a jetpack near the same airport.

This time around, the jetpack was flying 6,000 feet in the air.

China Airlines crew members reported the sighting Wednesday afternoon about 7 miles northwest of the airport, the Federal Aviation Administration told NPR.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it "alerted local law enforcement and will look into the report." The FBI is also investigating "multiple reports" from witnesses, FBI spokesperson Laura Eimiller told NPR.

No one is allowed to fly in the airspace near airports without authorization from air traffic control, an FAA spokesperson told NPR. That includes those sporting jetpacks.

On Aug. 30, two airline pilots reported a person flying with a jetpack at about 3,000 feet near LAX, according to the FAA.

"We just passed a guy in a jetpack," a pilot toldan air traffic controller on Aug. 30.

The controller went on to inform another pilot and couldn't help commenting on the strangeness of the situation:

"Only in LA."

Reese Oxner is an intern on NPR's News Desk.