What you're seeing over Los Angeles
The plane you hear over Los Angeles is most likely an airliner lining up for LAX. On a normal day, with the ocean breeze blowing in from the west, LAX lands to the west, which means arrivals come in from the east in long lines over downtown, Inglewood and South LA. Look up from almost anywhere in the basin and you can usually see several of them at once, spaced a few miles apart and descending toward the coast.
The rest of the sky is shared with Burbank, Long Beach, Van Nuys, John Wayne and a long list of smaller fields, plus more helicopters than nearly any other American city. Police, sheriff, fire, news, medevac and tour helicopters work the city at low altitude every day, and their circling is often what makes people open a flight tracker in the first place. Use the live map to see whether that low aircraft is a jet on approach or a helicopter in an orbit, and read why helicopters circle if it keeps going round in loops.
Airports near Los Angeles
- major hubLAXLos Angeles International Airport
KLAX · 12 miles southwest of downtown
One of the world's busiest airports, with four parallel east-west runways on the coast at Westchester. Live traffic at LAX ↗ - commercialBURHollywood Burbank Airport
KBUR · 12 miles northwest of downtown
A compact airport in the San Fernando Valley dominated by Southwest Airlines. Live traffic at BUR ↗ - commercialLGBLong Beach Airport
KLGB · 17 miles south of downtown
A commercial and general aviation airport with strict noise rules and a historic aircraft-building site. Live traffic at LGB ↗ - commercialSNAJohn Wayne Airport
KSNA · 34 miles southeast of downtown
Orange County's airport, known for steep noise-abatement departures over Newport Beach. Live traffic at SNA ↗ - general aviationVNYVan Nuys Airport
KVNY · 18 miles northwest of downtown
One of the busiest general aviation airports in the world, with heavy business-jet and helicopter traffic. Live traffic at VNY ↗
Common traffic over Los Angeles
LAX has no single dominant airline. United, Delta, American, Alaska and Southwest all run big operations, and the airport hosts a long roster of Asian, Pacific, European and Latin American carriers. That means the arrival line over the city mixes 737s and A321s with 777s, 787s, A350s and the occasional A380. FedEx, UPS and Asian cargo airlines add freighters, many of them late at night.
In the normal west flow, LAX arrivals funnel in over the eastern part of the basin and descend along a straight-in path over South LA, crossing the 110 and 405 freeways a few thousand feet up. Departures roll out over the Pacific and turn back toward the east once well offshore. Overnight, LAX often switches to over-ocean operations to keep noise off the neighborhoods, and on the rare days with Santa Ana winds from the east the whole operation can reverse, sending arrivals in from over the ocean and departures out over the city.
Burbank traffic, mostly Southwest, uses the Valley; Long Beach and John Wayne flights mix in to the south. Van Nuys adds business jets, from Citations to Gulfstream G650s.
Helicopters are a big part of the LA soundscape. LAPD's Air Support Division and the Sheriff's department fly patrols and pursuits, TV stations keep news helicopters ready, and LA County Fire and city fire operate firefighting and rescue helicopters, especially in fire season. Military traffic is light over the city itself, though you will sometimes see transports and tankers from bases farther inland.
Aircraft you'll often see here
Boeing 737-800
narrowbody airliner
Airbus A321
narrowbody airliner
Boeing 737 MAX 9
narrowbody airliner
Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
long-haul widebody twin-jet
Boeing 777-300ER
long-haul widebody twin-jet
Embraer E175
regional jet
Airbus A350-900
long-haul widebody twin-jet
Airbus H125 / AS350 Ecureuil
light single-engine helicopter
Plane-spotting tips for Los Angeles
The In-N-Out Burger on Sepulveda Boulevard, just east of LAX, is one of the most famous spotting locations in the world: arrivals to the north runways pass low overhead while you eat. Nearby, Clutter's Park on Sepulveda Westway offers a similar view. On the west side, Dockweiler Beach is good for watching departures climb out over the ocean. Imperial Hill park in El Segundo gives an elevated view across the whole airfield. From downtown, look west and southwest to see the LAX arrival line forming. June Gloom and morning marine layer can hide aircraft until they are very close, so afternoons are often better for photos.
Los Angeles sky questions
Why do planes fly so low over South LA and Inglewood?
In the usual west flow, LAX arrivals line up from the east and descend on a straight path toward the runways, so neighborhoods within about ten miles of the airport see them at only a few thousand feet.
Why are there so many helicopters over Los Angeles?
Los Angeles has large police, sheriff and fire aviation units, several TV news helicopters, medevac services and tour operators. A helicopter circling in one spot is often supporting a police call, a fire or a news story.
Why are LAX planes coming in from the ocean today?
When winds blow from the east, such as during Santa Ana conditions, LAX reverses and lands toward the east. Overnight the airport also often uses over-ocean procedures to reduce noise.
Nearby cities
Planes over Riverside (49 mi) · Planes over San Diego (111 mi) · Planes over Las Vegas (228 mi) · Planes over San Jose (305 mi)