Pilots spot ‘guy in a jet pack’ at 3,000 feet over LAX

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s ... some guy in a jet pack?

That might as well have been the conversation pilots had with a control tower Sunday night at Los Angeles International Airport, where they said they spotted a mystery person flying with a jet pack near incoming planes.

A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed to USA TODAY that two airline flight crews reported seeing what appeared to be someone in a jet pack as they approached LAX.

The FBI is working to figure out what happened, FBI spokesperson Laura Eimiller told USA TODAY.

Monday, Fox 11 published a recording of the communication between the control tower and the pilots.

“Tower, American 1997, we just passed a guy in a jet pack,” an American Airlines pilot said. A person in the tower asked whether the jet-pack flier was on his right or left.

“Off the left side, maybe 300 yards or so, about our altitude,” the pilot said.

Another person, whom Fox 11 identified as a SkyWest pilot, corroborated the claim. “We just saw the guy passing by us in the jet pack,” he told the tower.

The person in the tower warned an incoming JetBlue pilot that someone in a jet pack might be nearby.

“Jet Blue 23, use caution, a person in a jet pack reported 300 yards south of the LA final at about 3,000 feet, 10 mile final,” he said. The pilot replied, “Jet Blue 23, we heard, and we are definitely looking.” Another pilot summed it up best: “Only in LA.”

USA TODAY was unable to reach representatives at LAX, the Los Angeles Police Department and the airlines involved for further comment and details.