What's flying over Tucson right now?

What you're seeing over Tucson

Over Tucson, a jet overhead is just as likely to be military as airline. Davis-Monthan Air Force Base sits right inside the city, a few miles southeast of downtown, and its runway points straight at neighborhoods on both ends. Tucson International, south of downtown, handles the airline traffic, with American, Southwest, Delta, United, Alaska and Allegiant connecting the city to the hubs. It also hosts the Arizona Air National Guard's 162nd Wing, which trains F-16 pilots, including many from allied air forces.

Tucson's clear desert air and wide-open skies make it one of the best places in the country to watch military aircraft. Davis-Monthan is also home to the famous Boneyard, the Air Force's aircraft storage and regeneration center, where thousands of retired military aircraft sit in neat rows in the desert. Transport and tanker crews often visit, Customs and Border Protection flies surveillance aircraft from the area, and the Pima Air & Space Museum next door is one of the largest aviation museums in the world. Watch the action on the live map, and see why some fighters don't appear on public trackers.

Airports near Tucson

• commercialTUSTucson International Airport
  KTUS · 8 miles south of downtown
  Tucson's airline airport and home to the Arizona Air National Guard's 162nd Wing, an F-16 training unit. Live traffic at TUS ↗
• militaryDMADavis-Monthan Air Force Base
  KDMA · 7 miles southeast of downtown
  An Air Force base inside the city, home to rescue and attack units and the AMARG aircraft Boneyard. Live traffic at DMA ↗
• general aviationKRYNRyan Airfield
  KRYN · 13 miles southwest of downtown
  A busy general aviation and flight-training airport west of Tucson. Live traffic at KRYN ↗
• general aviationMZJPinal Airpark
  KMZJ · 29 miles northwest of downtown
  A desert airfield northwest of Tucson used for airliner storage and maintenance. Live traffic at MZJ ↗

Common traffic over Tucson

Airline traffic at TUS is mostly narrowbodies: American A321s and regional jets to Phoenix, Dallas and Charlotte, Southwest 737s, and Delta, United and Alaska flights to their western hubs. FedEx and UPS freighters serve TUS, and many airline maintenance and storage flights head to the desert airfields around Marana.

TUS's parallel runways run northwest-southeast. With the prevailing winds, many arrivals line up from the southeast and departures climb out toward the northwest; when winds shift, the flow reverses. Downtown sees airliners at moderate altitudes, often turning onto final over the south side.

Military flying is the main event:

• Davis-Monthan AFB hosts A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, a type the Air Force has been gradually retiring, plus rescue squadrons flying HC-130J tankers and HH-60 helicopters. Its runway is aligned so that jets pass low over midtown and the southeast side.
• The 162nd Wing at TUS flies F-16s on training sorties, with student pilots from the US and partner nations.
• Visitors: aircraft heading to the Boneyard for storage arrive from all over, and transports, tankers such as the KC-135, and fighters regularly stop at Davis-Monthan.

Customs and Border Protection operates surveillance aircraft and helicopters across southern Arizona. Helicopters also include Banner and other medevac services, Tucson Police and Pima County Sheriff aircraft. Overflights between Southern California and Texas cross the region at cruise altitude.

Aircraft you'll often see here

Plane-spotting tips for Tucson

The Pima Air & Space Museum, just south of Davis-Monthan, has hundreds of aircraft on display and has offered bus tours of the Boneyard when base access allows. The public roads around Davis-Monthan's perimeter, especially along Kolb Road and Valencia Road on the south and east sides, give views of jets on approach to the base and of long rows of stored aircraft in the Boneyard. Sentinel Peak, known locally as A Mountain, west of downtown, gives a panoramic view of the city with Davis-Monthan traffic in the distance. Summer monsoon storms can bring dramatic skies and sudden gusty winds, while winter offers crisp, clear days and comfortable temperatures for long spotting sessions.

Tucson sky questions

Nearby cities

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