Midnight Departure Viewings at JFK

[Pablo M 201]

Hello everyone,

it has been a good while since I've posted on this forum.

Anyways, I was at JFK last night for a drop off. Wondering, where would be a good spot to watch the late night departures out of JFK, especially to see any of the late night international departures.

It was something I had done while I was out in Los Angeles back in March. A good friend of mine who is also a huge aviation buff took me to this great spot and watched all the big boys depart out at midnight, and it was quite a show. I'm sure it would be almost the same at JFK as well.

So any help and tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[gonzalu]

Hmmm, not really as good ol LAX for this sort of spotting... If they are on the 31s, Howard Beach spot would be good but it closes at sundown. For the 4s, you could park your car somewhere near Rockaway Beach Blvd but anywhere around JFK is not what I consider safe.

If on the 22s, nothing is good

If on the 13s, also not great because any spot you would want to be at is too far away so the planes would be high...

Forget anything inside the airport. Visibility to the runways is non existent from anywhere you can be, and there isn;t any place you can be :-(

I hear Terminal 1 has a restaurant BEFORE security where you can catch a glimpse of 13R/31L so that may be your only/best choice.

[Mateo]

There's the Starbucks and where the arcade used to be in T1, but you'll be very conspicuous and the lights will be on, so you won't really have a good view of outside. Plus, by then, the terminal may be essentially closed. Honestly, I would sit very quietly in my car with the lights off on the top of the 1/2/3 garage, but that's typically a no-go location as far as spotting goes. If the 5-0 jumps you, just say you were waiting to see your wife/ladyfriend's flight depart, and look up which flight departs last.

[Pablo M 201]

Hmmm, not really as good ol LAX for this sort of spotting... If they are on the 31s, Howard Beach spot would be good but it closes at sundown. For the 4s, you could park your car somewhere near Rockaway Beach Blvd but anywhere around JFK is not what I consider safe.

If on the 22s, nothing is good

If on the 13s, also not great because any spot you would want to be at is too far away so the planes would be high...

Forget anything inside the airport. Visibility to the runways is non existent from anywhere you can be, and there isn;t any place you can be :-(

I hear Terminal 1 has a restaurant BEFORE security where you can catch a glimpse of 13R/31L so that may be your only/best choice.


There's the Starbucks and where the arcade used to be in T1, but you'll be very conspicuous and the lights will be on, so you won't really have a good view of outside. Plus, by then, the terminal may be essentially closed. Honestly, I would sit very quietly in my car with the lights off on the top of the 1/2/3 garage, but that's typically a no-go location as far as spotting goes. If the 5-0 jumps you, just say you were waiting to see your wife/ladyfriend's flight depart, and look up which flight departs last.
Thanks for the tips and pointers gentlemen, will definitely take them into consideration.

I'll give it a try sometime soon and see how it goes.

[gonzalu]

BTW, you will see NOTHING more than the safety strobes... and any tails or noses that light up but essentially not much. JFK is one dark place at nigh, it is almost as if the runways are darkened on purpose!

[eric8669]

there was talk a couple years ago about a few guys from the site getting together at JFK for a little over night spotting/observing . I don't think it ever materialized.