A person with a jet pack was spotted near Los Angeles International Airport again this week — flying at more than a mile in the air.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement to USA Today that “a China Airlines crew reported seeing what appeared to be someone in a jet pack at an approximate altitude of 6,000 feet, about seven miles northwest of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday. The FAA alerted local law enforcement and will look into the report.”
In air traffic control recordings reported by ABC News, someone can be heard asking about the report, saying, “Flying object? Was it a UAV [Unmanned Aerial Vehicle] or was it a jet pack?”
“There was a jet pack reported about seven miles west of you. There’s no way you can go and check that out can you?” another person in the recording says.
It’s unclear if the jet-packer is the same person seen flying around the airport on Aug. 30. An airline pilot landing at LAX that day reported seeing “a guy in a jetpack” flying about 300 yards off his plane’s wing—at an altitude of 3,000 feet.
The pilot was on his final approach to the busy airport and was about 10 miles from the tarmac.
The American Airlines pilot radioed his sighting in to the flight control tower: “Tower, American 1997, we just passed a guy in a jetpack.”
“American 1997, OK, were they off to your left side or right side?” the air traffic controller asked.
“Off the left side, maybe 300 yards or so, about our altitude,” the pilot said, FOX-11 reported.
A second pilot also reported seeing the jetpack guy. Fox 11 reported that a Skywest pilot confirmed the sighting:
Skywest Flight: “We just saw the guy passing by us in the jetpack.”
Then the tower alerted an incoming Jet Blue flight to the reported hazard:
Tower: “Jet Blue 23, use caution, a person in a jetpack reported 300 yards south of the LA final at about 3,000 feet, 10 mile final.”
Jet Blue 23: “Jet Blue 23, we heard and we are definitely looking.”
Another pilot chimed in: “Only in L.A.”
Most jetpacks can’t fly that fast or that high, but Yves “Jetman” Rossi’s winged jetpack, which launches from a helicopter, can do so. No one knows if the jetpack guy near LAX was doing some sort of publicity stunt, but officials are investigating the reports.
That incident followed another one that involved Air Force One. In July, two reporters traveling on the presidential plane said the aircraft had a near miss with what appeared to be a drone.
“Multiple people on AF1 saw what appeared to be a drone just below the plane as we were descending toward Joint Base Andrews,” Jennifer Jacobs, senior White House reporter for Bloomberg News, wrote on Twitter. “We came very close to hitting it, per @SebastianAFP, who had a window seat.”
“@realDonaldTrump just landed at Andrews on AF1,” tweeted Sebastian Smith, a reporter with Agence France Presse. “Shortly before, while descending, we flew right over a small object, remarkably close to the president’s plane. Resembled a drone though I’m no expert.”
Related: Airline Pilots Report Seeing ‘Guy In Jetpack’ Near Aircraft While Approaching Runway