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Planes in Flight Captured in Google Earth

For aviation buffs, people fascinated with interesting pictures, or those who like to find neat objects in GE here is a nice collection of photos of airplanes captured in flight . Someone known as “AZTraveller” at the Google Earth Community has been collecting all the posted Placemarks of planes in flight and he periodically updates his collection as seen here. He has collected approximately 75 planes so far.


[Edited: 9/23/05 – It turns out the information above is a collection of planes captured in flight with Aerial Photography. There is another separate collelction of planes captured in flight with satellite photography. Here’s the collection with satellite photography . And here is the thread discussing the satellite photos of planes captured in flight.]
Some of the pictures are quite interesting with planes at strange angles, just about to land, just taking off, helicopters, and more. Just open the link above and then go through the list in the Places folder. I especially like the one above which is a plane captured not far below the aircraft taking the picture, so it’s in amazing detail (it’s title in the list is “Amazing Airplane Capture!!!”).
If you find your own picture of a plane in flight, first turn on the BBS layer to make sure the mark wasn’t already recorded in the BBS, then post it in the “Transportation” forum at the Google Earth Community BBS. I’m sure AZTraveller will find your post and determine whether it should be added to his collection. I know there are many other planes in flight not listed (I’ve seen some in the BBS Layer), so there’s work to be done!

About Frank Taylor

Frank Taylor started the Google Earth Blog in July, 2005 shortly after Google Earth was first released. He has worked with 3D computer graphics and VR for many years and was very impressed with this exciting product. Frank completed a 5.5 year circumnavigation of the earth by sailboat in June 2015 which you can read about at Tahina Expedition, and is a licensed pilot, backpacker, diver, and photographer.

Reader Interactions






PLEASE NOTE: Google Earth Blog is no longer writing regular posts. As a result, we are not accepting new comments or questions about Google Earth. If you have a question, use the official Google Earth and Maps Forums or the Google Earth Community Forums.

Comments

  2. Frank Taylor says

    Have you checked the network link for “All Aircraft in Flight” and turned on the Google Earth Community Layers to verify whether the plane has already been found? See my Flying category for the network link.
    If you have found a new one, place mark it, and choose “Share with Google Earth Community” from the “File” menu. Then post your find at the Transportation Forum. Make sure you put a good description and indicate it is a plane in flight in the subject.

  6. Peter Serne says

    Hi,
    found an commercial jet about to land on RW01R of Schiphol airport (amsterdam). At that moment the plane must have been at the seam of two pictures, for the aircraft itself misses the right wing, but the airplane’s shadow is intact.

  7. Alejandro Diaz says

    i found an airplane flying above Nazca, Peru at:
    14° 41´24.34” S
    75° 06´57.29” W

  8. Binwa says

    I finally found a U2. It was not flying, but it is fully recognizable.
    34°37’13.53″N
    118° 6’57.02″W

  9. Cal T. says

    haha i found a runway incursion waiting to happen at La Guardia airport in New York City runway 31. Looks like two US Airways 737s are about to crash. One is about to takeoff already sitting on the runway and the other one is only about half a mile away on final descent (you can tell by the shadow) look it up u can see both aircraft on the same picture clearly

  10. Type0 says

    At N33 38 9 W84 23 15 there is a shadow of a plane on a roof top. Can anyone find the plane in the air?
    This by Atlanta airport.

  11. Chrissy Lee says

    I found an airplane flying over a lake in southern Nebraska. At first I thought, why do they have an airplane in the middle of their lake? And then I realized, Duh, it is in flight and the satellite caught it. I told my geography professor, I thought I was one lucky chick, and he told me that there is a whole community of people out there who look for this stuff. How Cool! I posted it under the name mapkitty. Hopefully it will become part of the community layer. 40d 46’41.78″N, 96d 29’5.30″W

  12. Peter says

    A couple of small crop dusters on the ground near Woodside South Australia at 34°57’20.93″S, 138°53’39.68″E and a plane in flight over the Straight of Messina, Italy at 38°15’12.98″N, 15°37’56.15″E

  13. Barry says

    F-22 Raptor, in flight @ east end of runway @ Dobbins AFB, GA. Trailed by a F-16 chase plane. both are about to land.
    Barry

  14. John Holmes says

    3 planes in formation leaving the southern most airstrip at Frankfurt airport heading east. Its a regular airport so three big planes in close formation is a little weird.

  15. Kurt says

    Found one…probably after takeoff from Nassau, Bahamas.
    Lat: 25° 5’44.82″N
    Long 77°21’4.73″W

  18. Aussie says

    I spotted an aeroplane- most likely a Qantas Boeing 737-700- flying over Medindie; a wealthy inner eastern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It was quite an unusual sight. Haha. Thanks.

  23. Den says

    Hello!
    About 3 planes departing Frankfurt eastward:
    I think that those planes are the multiple shots of one single plane in departure phase. It is impossible for planes to have so small separation, this would be against aviation rules, due to wake turbulence behind each big airliner. Those rules calls for several minutes of separation when departing or arriving.
    Den

  24. Den says

    Yes, I checked carefully again. All “3” planes are the same Lufthansa airliner departing Frankfurt runway 07L. If you carefully check vehicles on the freeway north of airplane airborne, You’ll find some of them twice or three times too (see two trucks with red front end and white trailers driving in parallel). This is the result of multiplyng shots from the sattelite in few seconds intervals, so moving objects appears several times.
    Den.

  25. Torben Kofod-Jensen says

    Regarding the Frankfurt 747’s pls. note that there are 4 shadows and three planes:-)

  26. dan says

    there is a qatar flight which has just taken off from heathrow at:
    51 28′ 34.93n 0 31 10.42w

  28. Terry says

    Found commercial airliner over subdivision in Apache Junction, AZ. From the direction, I assume it is outbound from Mesa Gateway Airport.
    It is on Google Maps as of 3 June 11, and it has a very pretty rainbow colored artifact trailing it. 🙂
    It is at 33.395126, -111.556388

  29. sathya says

    hey folks,,,i`ve just found a plane abt to take off from chennai airport…i m afraid it`s a boeing 747 plane… 12°59’21.92″N 80°10’19.97″E air india…..

  30. Ken Cahill says

    I have found an aircraft on Ge almost exactly 2mile directly West of Porto Colom Majorca Spain. I cannot give exact Gps position but it can be easily found. Has this been reported before .There is also a perculiar shadow.

  34. Richard says

    United Airlines flight just south of The Museum of Science & Industry at 41°47’8.07″N 41°47’8.07″N
    It looks rather blurry

  35. Richard says

    Correction the UA flight south of The Museum of Science & Industry is at 41°47’8.07″N 87°34’45.26″W

  40. Gman1 says

    Here is one over the Potomac River, probably headed to Reagan National:
    38º41’55.19”N 77º04’39.47”W

  41. Gman1 says

    Dan posted this one on April 2, 2011.
    51º28’34.93”N 0º31’10.42”W
    The strange thing is there are three shadows
    51º28’50.17”N 0º31’22.71”W
    51º28’45.28”N 0º31’53.00”W
    51º28’35.04”N 0º32’17.62”W

  42. Tagel Assefa says

    Plane on the sky of Ghana Accra on flight before crossing University of Ghana:
    5º38’26.4”N 0º11’36.71”W

  43. Henk says

    this is in South Africa.
    I think the plain was onroute to Johannesburg.
    27º15’16.92”S 26º10’18.84”e

  47. James Jones says

    Here is an airship in flight over London in Google street view. I believe it is Zeppelin D-LZNT which operated over London in summer 2008 doing tourist trips.
    Google short URL
    http://goo.gl/maps/h4py6
    full URL:
    http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=se17&hl=en&ll=51.49168,-0.090766&spn=0.000002,0.001805&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=13.805515,29.575195&vpsrc=6&layer=c&cbll=51.491732,-0.090731&panoid=xEqYAmqgQG_s1xCWEbfocQ&cbp=12,161.67,,3,-14.78&z=19
    The following is I think information about this airship and what it was doing over London.
    ###
    http://londonist.com/2008/07/londonist_rides_in_an_airship_in_pi.php?showpage=2#gallery-1
    It’s the “Stella Artois” Airship
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/gallery/2008/jul/15/london.travelnews
    “The flights run for the next six weeks this summer, until August 21,”
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stella_Artois_blimp_London_August_08.JPG
    ###
    The 75-metre long Stella Artois airship will undertake between five and eight flights each day between July 10 and August 21 cruising across the London sky at speeds of 30-40mph at a height of some 300m.
    It will carry 12 passengers, a pilot and one crew member
    The Stella Artois Airship, built by Zeppelin
    Zeppelin NT
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeppelin_NT
    The Zeppelin NT is a semi-rigid airship a fourth Zeppelin NT07. NT07 #4
    Prior to the trip to the USA, the airship, registered D-LZNT, operated sightseeing and pleasure flights over eastern London and the Thames Estuary from an airfield close to Upminster, in Essex, England, advertising
    “Stella Artois” beer and the DrinkAware campaign. These flights operated between July and September 2008.
    ###

  53. sharkey22 says

    Plane at 23°35’27.00″N 58°36’14.28″E
    32km from Muskat Airport, Oman is an Oman Air A330-300.

  54. Hans Timothy says

    I found a plane by myself at Hudson River. It looked like US Airways Flight 1549, but i dont think that’s it. Anyway the coordinates are 40°46’14.35”N 74°00’20.15”W. I know there is know airplane there but try to change the date to 4/30/2008 (April 30,2008).

    Thank you.
    -Hans Timothy

  55. hans timothy says

    I’ve got a few of em’

    B777- 29°57’39.40”N 31°11’50.29”E – 5/2006
    B737 – 53°05’14.55”N 18°40’53.06”E – 5/4/2007
    Dash 8? – 53°22’59.26”N 03°19’09.53”W – 3/26/2002
    B757 – 42°11’26.02”N 19°25’39.67”E – [NO DATE]

    – Hans Timothy

  56. Hans Timothy says

    I have 2 more!

    B737 go around – 53°19’55.38”N 02°18’33.55”W – 12/2005
    What plane? (its blurry!) – 41°56’28.35”N 87°36’48.40”W – 4/30/2005

    – Hans Timothy

  58. Chris Horseman says

    Hi!

    I’m not sure how to mark this on GE, or get into Google Hacks, but this looks like a saudi Airlines Airliner over the railway near Gomshall, Surrey.

    GE 51°12’48.62″N
    0°27’43.86″W

    On its way from Heathrow?



PLEASE NOTE: Google Earth Blog is no longer writing regular posts. As a result, we are not accepting new comments or questions about Google Earth. If you have a question, use the official Google Earth and Maps Forums or the Google Earth Community Forums.