LAX Live Traffic

LAX Sectional Chart

With 59,542,151 passengers[2] in 2009, LAX is the seventh busiest airport in the world and is served by direct flights to North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East. The airport is a major hub for both United Airlines and Alaska Airlines, a focus city for American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Allegiant Air and Virgin America. It also serves as an international gateway for Delta Air Lines.

The airport also functions as joint civil-military facility, providing a base for the United States Coast Guard and its Coast Guard Air Station Los Angeles facility, operating 4 HH-65 Dolphin helicopters.

LAX is the busiest airport in California in terms of flight operations, passenger traffic and air cargo activity, followed by San Francisco International Airport (SFO). LAX is also the only U.S. airport to serve 3 or more international destinations with ridership of 1 million passengers or more per year (Tokyo-Narita, London-Heathrow, Taipei).

Although LAX is the busiest airport in the Greater Los Angeles Area, the region relies on a multiple airport system because of its vast size. Many of the area’s most well-known attractions are closer to alternative airports than to LAX; for example, Hollywood and Griffith Park are closer to Bob Hope Airport in Burbank; while John Wayne Airport in Orange County is close to Disneyland, the Honda Center, Angel Stadium of Anaheim, and other Orange County attractions. Long Beach Airport is close to some of the coastal attractions known to Southern California, like Palos Verdes and Huntington Beach. LA/Ontario International Airport is closer to the Inland Empire region’s cities of Riverside, and San Bernardino of Southern California.

• On the morning of June 30, 1956, United Airlines Flight 718, a Douglas DC-7, and TWA Flight 2, a Lockheed Super Constellation, departed LAX within three minutes of each other on eastbound transcontinental flights. The two propeller-driven airliners subsequently collided over the Grand Canyon in Arizona while both were flying in unmonitored airspace, killing all 58 people aboard Flight 718 and 70 people aboard Flight 2.
• On January 13, 1969, a Scandinavian Airlines System Douglas DC-8-62 crashed into Santa Monica Bay, approximately 6 nautical miles (11 km) west of LAX at 7:21 pm, local time. The aircraft was operating as flight SK-933, nearing the completion of a flight from Seattle. Of nine crewmembers, three lost their lives to drowning, while 12 of the 36 passengers also drowned.
• On January 18, 1969, a United Airlines Boeing 727-22C bearing the registration number N7434U, crashed into Santa Monica Bay approximately 11.3 miles (18.2 km) west of LAX at 6:21 p.m. local time. The aircraft was destroyed, resulting in the loss of all 32 passengers and six crewmembers aboard.
• On the evening of June 6, 1971, Hughes Airwest Flight 706, a Douglas DC-9 jetliner which had departed LAX on a flight to Salt Lake City, Utah, was struck nine minutes after takeoff by a U.S. Marine Corps McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II fighter jet over the San Gabriel Mountains. The midair collision killed all 44 passengers and five crew members aboard the DC-9 airliner and one of two crewmen aboard the military jet.
• On August 6, 1974, a bomb exploded near the Pan Am ticketing area at Terminal 2; three people were killed and 35 were injured.
• On March 1, 1978, two tires burst in succession on a Continental Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 during its takeoff roll at LAX and the plane, bound for Honolulu, veered off the runway. A third tire burst and the DC-10’s left landing gear collapsed, causing a fuel tank to rupture. Following the aborted takeoff, spilled fuel ignited and enveloped the center portion of the aircraft in flames. During the ensuing emergency evacuation, a husband and wife died when they exited the passenger cabin onto the wing and dropped down directly into the flames. Two additional passengers died of their injuries approximately three months after the accident; 74 others aboard the plane were injured, as were 11 firemen battling the fire.
• On the morning of September 25, 1978, Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182, which was on a Sacramento-Los Angeles International Airport-Lindbergh Field, San Diego route, collided in midair with a Cessna 172 while descending for a landing at Lindbergh Field; both planes crashed in San Diego’s North Park district, killing all 135 on board the PSA jetliner, both occupants of the Cessna aircraft, and seven people on the ground.
• On the evening of March 10, 1979, Swift Aire Flight 235, a twin-engine Aerospatiale Nord 262A-33 turboprop enroute to Santa Maria, was forced to ditch in Santa Monica Bay after experiencing engine problems upon takeoff from LAX. The pilot, co-pilot and a female passenger drowned when they were unable to exit the aircraft after the ditching. The female flight attendant and the three remaining passengers — two men and a pregnant woman — survived and were rescued by several pleasure boats and other watercraft in the vicinity.
• On August 31, 1986, Aeroméxico Flight 498, a DC-9 en route from Mexico City, Mexico to Los Angeles, began its descent into LAX when a Piper Cherokee collided with the DC-9’s left horizontal stabilizer over Cerritos, California, causing the DC-9 to crash into a residential neighborhood. All 64 passengers and crew aboard the Aeroméxico flight were killed, in addition to 15 on the ground. 5 homes were destroyed and an additional 7 were damaged by the crash and resulting fire. The three occupants of the Piper were killed immediately when the two planes collided; their aircraft went down in a nearby schoolyard and caused no further injuries on the ground. As a result of this incident, FAA required all commercial aircraft to be equipped with Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS).
• On December 7, 1987, Pacific Southwest Airlines PSA Flight 1771, bound from LAX to San Francisco International Airport, was cruising above the central California coast when a USAir employee aboard the plane shot his ex-supervisor, both pilots and then himself, causing the airplane to crash near the town of Cayucos. All 43 aboard perished. Following this event, airline staff and crew were no longer allowed to bypass security checks at U.S. airports.
• On February 1, 1991, USAir Flight 1493, a Boeing 737 landing on Runway 24L at LAX, collided on touchdown with a SkyWest Airlines Fairchild Metroliner, Flight 5569 departing to Palmdale, that had been holding in position on the same runway. The collision killed all 12 occupants of the SkyWest plane and 22 people aboard the USAir 737.
• On February 20, 1992, Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 386, cholera-tainted shrimp was distributed on the Buenos Aires-Lima-Los Angeles flight. One elderly passenger died from food poisoning.
• In the year 2000, Al-Qaeda attempted to bomb LAX during the millennium holiday, although the bomber was caught at the U.S. port of entry. Ahmed Ressam was captured in Port Angeles, Washington, with a cache of explosives in the trunk of his rented car which had traveled with him from Victoria, British Columbia, aboard the ferry “Coho”. The plot was part of the 2000 millennium attack plots. Ressam was sentenced to 22 years in prison on July 27, 2005.
• On the afternoon of January 31, 2000, Alaska Airlines Flight 261, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 jetliner flying from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to San Francisco and Seattle, requested to make an emergency landing at LAX after experiencing control problems with its tail-mounted horizontal stabilizer. Before the plane could divert to Los Angeles, it suddenly plummeted into the Pacific Ocean approximately 2.7 miles (4.3 km) north of Anacapa Island off the California coast, killing all 88 people aboard the aircraft.
• Singapore Airlines Flight 006, bound for Los Angeles, crashed in Taipei’s Chiang Kai-shek Airport on October 31, 2000.
• Three of the four planes used on September 11 were originally headed for Los Angeles, including American Airlines Flight 11, United Airlines Flight 175 and American Airlines Flight 77.
• In the 2002 Los Angeles Airport shooting of July 4, 2002, Hesham Mohamed Hadayet killed 2 Israelis at the ticket counter of El Al Airlines at LAX. Although the gunman was not linked to any terrorist group, the man was upset at U.S. support for Israel, and therefore was motivated by political disagreement. This led the FBI to classify this shooting as a terrorist act, one of the few on U.S. soil since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The attack was similar to the Rome and Vienna Airport Attacks.
• On September 21, 2005, a JetBlue Airbus A320 (JetBlue Airways Flight 292) discovered a problem with its landing gear as it took off from Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California. It flew in circles for three hours to burn off fuel, then landed safely at Los Angeles International Airport on runway 25L, balancing on its back wheels as it rolled down the center of the runway. Passengers were able to watch their own coverage live from the satellite broadcast on JetBlue in-flight TV seat displays of their plane as it made an emergency landing with the front landing gear visibly becoming damaged. Because JetBlue does not serve LAX, the aircraft was evaluated and repaired at a Continental Airlines hangar.
• On July 29, 2006, after America West Express Flight 6008, a Canadair Regional Jet operated by Mesa Airlines from Phoenix, Arizona, landed on runway 25L, controllers instructed the pilot to leave the runway on a taxiway known as “Mike” and stop short of runway 25R. Even though the pilot read back the instructions correctly, he accidentally taxied onto 25R and into the path of a departing SkyWest Airlines Embraer EMB-120 operating United Express Flight 6037 to Monterey, California. They cleared each other by 50 feet (15 m) and nobody was hurt.
• On August 16, 2007, a runway incursion occurred between West Jet Flight 900 and Northwest Airlines Flight 180 on runways 24R and 24L, respectively, with the aircraft coming within 37 feet (11 m) of each other. The planes were carrying a combined total of 296 people, none of whom were injured. The NTSB is currently investigating the incident.[37] In September 2007, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey stressed the need for LAX to increase lateral separation between its pair of north runways in order to preserve the safety and efficiency of the airport.

This page contains excerpts of Wikipedia entry Los Angeles International Airport, shared under the GNU Free Documentation License.