Jet fans flock to LAX to watch big bird land

Onlookers snapped photos on cellphone cameras as the eight-story-high Airbus A380 briefly hung in the air, dwarfing Boeing 737s preparing to take off on a nearby taxiway. It touched down on the airport's northernmost runway at 9:30 a.m.

The enormous craft, with room for more than 500 passengers and a wingspan nearly the length of a football field, flew 12 1/2 hours from Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France.

Another A380 landed in New York a few minutes ahead of the Los Angeles touchdown. The New York flight, which originated in Frankfurt, Germany, carried Lufthansa frequent fliers and the news media. The Airbus that landed at LAX carried several dozen crew members and technicians, as well as banks of instruments and water tanks designed to shift the plane's center of gravity in flight.

Airplane buffs gathered at or near LAX before dawn to claim prime viewing spots for the A380's arrival.

"This is it," said Mark Gagne, 19, of Ventura, listening to air traffic controllers on his scanner as he waited with several hundred spectators atop a parking garage near Terminal 1. Long moments went by, and spectators mistook an incoming Boeing 747 for the A380.

"The anticipation is killing me," said Gagne, putting his hands on his mother's shoulders. "Look, my knees are shaking."

Then, as the words "Welcome to Los Angeles" were broadcast over scanner radios, two faint lights could be seen emerging from the fog, followed by the massive wings and engines.

"How is that thing flying?" Gagne asked. "It's a sperm whale with wings," someone else said.

When the plane touched the runway, there appeared to be a slight shimmy in the front landing gear. But a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman and the A380 pilots said there were no glitches in the landing.

The jumbo jet touched down several hundred yards from a few Los Angeles City Council members standing on a service road on the airfield. Behind them, scores of spectators watched from a fence on the Northside Parkway.

"Did you notice how quiet it was on landing?" City Councilman Bill Rosendahl remarked to Council President Eric Garcetti. "Our Westchester folks are going to love it."