Video: Ghost Plane!

There's a new spectator sport for a foggy day in L.A. In this video, that looks like it could be a sequence from a Stephen King movie, a group of locals stand under the approach to LAX waiting for arriving airliners to appear out of the heavy, low overcast. This Philippine Airlines Boeing 777 was recorded as it swirled up a ton of moisture, with vortices spinning off multiple points on the airframe.

It really does look like a spooky ghost plane appearing from the heavens, with landing lights glowing eerily, dark clouds billowing off the tops of the wings, and mini tornadoes of moisture spinning backward from the outer flap-attach points. Why such condensation action? It's because on a foggy day by definition the dew point is almost exactly the same as the temperature, so any acceleration of the air, which lowers the temperature, remember, is going to fog things up further. And when it's in landing configuration, any airplane is producing lots of lift, but this Triple-7 is pretty much off the charts in that regard, as you can see from the huge sheets of condensation wake rising from the plane's wings.

And as for the pilot? Well, an airline pilot friend joked that they forgot an important checklist item on the pre-landing checklist: "Chemtrails OFF!"

The video, by the way, was shot from a patch of grass just east of the airport alongside the 405 freeway. The approach lights to Runway 25L can be seen as the 777 completes its low approach.