A Gulfstream jet pilot reported seeing a “potential skydiver” cross over their aircraft while on final landing approach to Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday afternoon, recordings from air traffic control reveal.
In the recording, the pilot of Special Air Mission flight 741 (SAM741) could be heard explaining to the LAX Control Tower that they “just had somebody cross above us around 4,000 feet in a wingsuit.”
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Air Bureau said it received reports from the SoCal TRACON — the Federal Aviation Administration approach control facility in Southern California — of a skydiver in the area west of the 605 freeway and north of the 105 freeway around 2:30 p.m.
The LASD said it launched a helicopter to the area but was not able to find anyone by the time it arrived.
The flight that reported the sighting departed from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to Nellis Air Force Base outside of Las Vegas on Sunday morning before heading for LAX at 1:50 p.m. The incident happened within 10 minutes of the flight landing at LAX.
Other commercial pilots were warned about the incident.
The FAA is investigating.
This is a developing story that will be updated as more information arrives.