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Shocked pilots have sighted a man wearing a jetpack flying in the path of large commercial aircraft approaching Los Angeles International Airport.

The pilot and the first officer of American Airlines flight AA1997 from Philadelphia to Los Angeles were first to spot the man as they approached the airport (LAX) to land. The pilot of another plane saw the same man shortly afterwards.

The American Airlines pilot radioed air traffic control.

“Tower, American 1997, we just passed a guy in a jetpack,” the pilot said, according to recordings by LiveATC.net, quoted by ABC News in the USA.

Air traffic controllers sounded stunned when they responded.

Jetpacks, as favoured by Buzz Lightyear, are no longer science fiction. One was demonstrated over Sydney Harbour in July last year on the 50th anniversary of astronaut Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon.

Australian entrepreneur David Mayman, chief executive of JetPack Aviation, blasted around Sydney Opera House, performing spins. He even flew backwards, to the amazement of onlookers. There is no suggestion that Mayman (who can be seen in the 50-second video below) was the man sighted over LAX, or that JetPack Aviation was in any way involved.

LAX air traffic controllers asked the pilots of American 1997 (an Airbus A321) for details of their sighting.

“American 1997… Okay…. Were they off to your left side or right side?” the controller asked.

The pilot replied the man was flying with a jetpack at 3000 feet (910 metres) – only about 300 metres away from the plane.

Minutes later, the pilot of another aircraft corroborated the sighting.

“We just saw the guy passing by us in the jetpack,” a SkyWest pilot confirmed to controllers.

Controllers then warned other aircraft to use caution to avoid a man wearing a jetpack flying in the path of planes.

The scenario over LAX sounds curiously like a 30-second TV commercial last year for iiNet which Australians may be familiar with, which shows two airline pilots looking out their cockpit window and seeing a man in a jetpack flying past.

Those interested can view that below. (There’s no suggestion iiNet was involved with the LAX incident either!)

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has turned the LAX matter over to Los Angeles Police, who have launched an investigation. It is illegal for people in jetpacks, whatever their motives, to fly in commercial airspace or near planes. Considering that birdstrike can, in extreme cases, bring down an aircraft, the consequences of a plane colliding with a human jetpacker could be severe.

Written by Peter Needham