Pilot Reports 'Missile' Fired at Jetliner Near LAX

[Matt Molnar]

From KYW 1060 Newsradio, Philadelphia:


Pilot Reports 'Missile' Fired at Jetliner Near LAX
(11/28/05)

FBI agents and Homeland Security officials spent the weekend investigating the report of a possible missile fired at an American Airlines plane taking off from Los Angeles International Airport.
Sources tell ABC News the pilot of American Airlines Flight 621, en route to Chicago, radioed air traffic controllers after takeoff from LAX. He told them a missile had been fired at the aircraft and missed.

The plane was over water when the pilot said he saw a smoke trail pass by the cockpit.

FBI agents believe it was a flare or a bottle rocket, but say they may never know if that's what it actually was.

[jakbar]

If the plane was already over water after departing LAX, it was pretty high. How the hell would a bottle rocket get that high??? A flare I could understand, particularly if a person on a boat shot it off. Maybe somebody thought it would be funny to shoot a flare off near departing planes. Moron.

A missile?!?! I'm sure someone else would have seen THAT.
And if it simply streaked by the plane without changing course, it couldn't have been a very sophisticated missle (i.e., not heat seeking or radar/laser/infrared guided, etc.) and would probably show up on radar somewhere, wouldn't it?

I wonder what really happened here.

[Matt Molnar]

If the plane was already over water after departing LAX, it was pretty high. How the hell would a bottle rocket get that high??? A flare I could understand, particularly if a person on a boat shot it off.

I was thinking the same thing. Flares don't really go that high either...definitely not the 1500+ feet that the plane was probably at. Remember, it's not if, but when.

[Jonesbeach]

What about a model rocket? This one can reach altitudes of 2600 ft and costs $13.00 without engines. With engines and a starter kit figure about $40-50 to menace the local airliner pilots.

http://www.estesrockets.com/cgi-bin/pro ... i?view,259 (http://www.estesrockets.com/cgi-bin/products.cgi?view,259)

You'd have to be pretty twisted to try to hit a plane with one, but its a BIG country with a lot of crazy people.

[T-Bird76]

I forgot about model rockets, that could very well be what it was. Hopefully it wasn't anything serious.

[jakbar]

A model rocket launched from a boat? Now there's a new one.

Otherwise, it would have had to have been shot at the aircraft from behind, since the plane was heading out over water away from land. There is no way in hell a model rocket could catch up -- and pass -- an airplane going away from it.

[T-Bird76]

A model rocket launched from a boat? Now there's a new one.

Otherwise, it would have had to have been shot at the aircraft from behind, since the plane was heading out over water away from land. There is no way in hell a model rocket could catch up -- and pass -- an airplane going away from it.

The report doesn't indicate how far out over the water they were. If it was a model rocket it could have very well been shot from the beach area out over the water. Plus model rockets travel much faster then jetliners flying under 10,000 feet. If this was just after takeoff the plane was more then likely flying less then 200 knots. Lets just hope it was some moron firing a model rocket and not a shoulder fired missile.