An Alaska Airlines flight from Oakland to Los Angeles Tuesday had several people scratching their heads when the plane flew several hundred extra miles, circling and flying over land and the Pacific Ocean several times.
The flight -- which typically runs just under 90 minutes -- took over four hours to complete.
@AlaskaAir today I saw an Alaska airlines plane that just took off from Oakland airport circling, while being escorted by a small private aircraft. What was going on do you have any info on that? A fighter jet flew over right before that so it was I
— Diz Slau (@DizSlau) October 11, 2023
Just strange all around.
According to flightaware.com, the Boeing 737 MAX 9 flew at 5,000 feet for about a third of the flight, then 10,000 feet for another third, and topped out at 25,000 feet before landing at 7:40 p.m.
@KTVU Any ideas on what’s going with Alaska Air flight ASA 9820? It’s been flying in circles for over an hour. First over the Bay with escort and now off the coast of Santa Cruz.
— Echo.The.Cattle.Dog. (@Emmett_Eilands) October 11, 2023
KIRO 7 reached out to Alaska Airlines who told us the flight was not a passenger flight. The planned flight was to capture air-to-air footage for future use by the airline.
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