Mystery 'Jet Pack Guy' Strikes Again, Only Twice As High

LOS ANGELES, CA — For the second time in less than two months, a jetpacker was spotted by commercial jet airline crews Wednesday rocketing above the flight path near Los Angeles International Airport. This time "jetpack guy" reportedly went twice as high as an Aug. 30 sighting while in the flight path of commercial airliners.

The crew of a China Airlines reported a person who appeared to be flying a jetpack at about 6,000 feet above the ground, seven miles northwest of LAX, about 1:45 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the report along with local law enforcement.

Such incidents are considered a major safety threat, given the chance of collision between the jetpacker and jumbo jets above densely populated Los Angeles. It's also a mystery, because no jetpacks are known to be able to safely fly so high or far.

The FBI is also investigating the Aug. 30 sightings of a jetpack man near LAX at about 3,000 feet above the ground. Officials have not yet said whether Wednesday's incident might be connected to the August jetpack sightings.

The agency tweeted a call for help identifying that mystery jetpacker along with a map showing the specific area where the man was spotted by pilots for two commercial jetliners in August.

According to the FBI, the man in the first incident was spotted in the air by pilots just west of the Long Beach (710) Freeway in the Cudahy and South Gate areas. About the time of sighting, the plane was flying northwest of the junction of the 710 and the Century (105) freeways, according to the map released by the FBI. More specifically, it appears the plane was in the area west of the 710, east of San Juan Avenue, north of Firestone Boulevard and south of Cudahy Park.

"Anyone with info about activity on or above the ground at the location depicted here should call the FBI," the agency tweeted.

That mystery jetpacker was seen by two commercial jetliner pilots as they headed in for a landing at LAX. The bewildering sight has triggered FBI and Federal Aviation Administration investigations. It also created some confusion among local law enforcement agencies about just who plays traffic cop when it comes to speeding jetpackers.

The sight triggered curiosity and skepticism because the technology is not in widespread use, nor are jetpacks in use today known to carry enough fuel to safely carry a person to that altitude and back down again. Jetpacks are noisy, and it also seems unlikely that no one on the ground saw or recorded it taking off or landing again.

It all started when a pilot of American Airlines Flight 1997 radioed the LAX tower to make the unusual report.

"Tower, American 1997. We just passed a guy in a jetpack," the pilot said on the radio transmission, which was first obtained by Fox11.

An air traffic controller — noticeably taken aback by the report — responded, "American 1997, OK, thank you for the update. Left side or right side?"

"Off the left side," the pilot responded, "at maybe, uh, 300 yards or so, at our altitude."

At least one other pilot, aboard a Southwest Airlines flight, also spotted the unusual aviator.

"Tower, we just saw the guy pass by us," the pilot reported.

The LAX tower alerted an inbound JetBlue pilot to beware of "a person with a jetpack reported 300 yards south of the L.A. final at about 3,000 feet."

The pilot responded, "We heard and are definitely looking."

The bewildered air traffic controller responded, "Only in L.A."

— City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.