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See What More than 6,000 Planes Flying Worldwide at One Time Looks Like

Sep. 18, 2012 3:34pm

You may have heard that at any given time there are thousands planes flying the skies worldwide. But once you’re up in the air, you may never see another one of them until you’re in the line-up to land, so this quantity may not really hit home unless you see it visually on one map.

Thanks to Flightradar24, you can. The image below shows more than 6,000 planes flying across the world around 2 p.m. (EST) Tuesday.

Flightradar24 Shows Real Time Flight Status of 60 Percent of Passenger Aircraft on One Map

This image represents 6,024 planes at 2 p.m. EST (Image: Flightradar24 screenshot)

The website states that it is the largest collection of real-time online aviation statistics that allows users to search for information by flight, aircraft or airport.

As aΒ testamentΒ to howΒ fascinatingΒ the website is, Flightradar24 reports that each month it gets more than 10 million visitors. Its app has been downloaded more than 2 million times.

Flightradar24 Shows Real Time Flight Status of 60 Percent of Passenger Aircraft on One Map

This field of view shows 3,787 planes. (Image: Flightradar24 screenshot)

The website started as a hobby by “two Swedish aviation geeks” in 2006. By 2009, they opened it up for other volunteers — yes all the databases are updated by volunteers — to build a network showing aircraft with anΒ ADS-B transponder. Only 60 percent of aircraft have this technology so even though the map looks crowded now, there is even more in the air than is being recorded by the website:

Today, roughly 60% of all passenger aircraft (70% in Europe, 30% in the US) are equipped with an ADS-B transponder. This percentage is steadily increasing as ADS-B is set to replace radar as the primary surveillance method for controlling aircraft.

You may notice the orange color over the flights in the United States as well. Flightradar24 states the orange represents a five-minute delay inΒ accordanceΒ with the Federal Aviation Administration’s regulations.

This website, in addition to showing the breadth of air traffic and flight patterns, allows for Β individual flights to be tracked in real-time as well.

(H/T: Daily Mail)

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Comments (45)

  • OUTRIDER WRITER
    Posted on September 19, 2012 at 10:04am

    I had no idea the sky was so noisy until the day following the 9/11 attack when I was home (countryside). The silence that day and the following day was eerie.
    I don’t live in the middle of nowhere, but I don’t live near an airport either. I do live where, at any given time, I can see three or four contrails from overhead planes.
    Wondering if anyone else noticed the silence that day when planes didn’t fly.

    Report this comment

    OUTRIDER WRITER  
    • muffythetuffy
      Posted on September 19, 2012 at 10:13am

      The US had more than 6000 planes in the air at the same time raiding Germany and Japan during WWII. Its unbelievable what America was able to accomplish when it was a free nation.

      Report this comment

      muffythetuffy  
    • OUTRIDER WRITER
      Posted on September 19, 2012 at 10:39am

      @TUFFMUFFINS
      Well, okay….airspace would have been noisy with that many planes in the air.
      ..
      I was hoping for a reply from others who noted the SILENCE of the skies the day following 9/11 when all planes were grounded. Let’s try this again.

      Report this comment

      OUTRIDER WRITER  
    • Lara
      Posted on September 19, 2012 at 10:45am

      I also felt it very strange when the 911 non flight happened. Except we had fighter jets coming out of nowhere at about 200 feet above us almost hittin our power liines. He had to make a last min swerve to keep from it. I screamed as I was teaching horseback lessons at the time. His plane would have littered our fields. Thank God he did not hit it, and our horses didnt go nuts and harm one of the riders. But the silence of the air was LOUD!!

      Report this comment

      Lara  
    • OUTRIDER WRITER
      Posted on September 19, 2012 at 12:06pm

      @LARA
      God bless those pilots. And God bless you for staying sane. Calm rider = calm horse.
      ..
      I once stabled my horse next to a military airfield. Would stuff cotton in the horse’s ears (and mine) and stand at end of the runway. Quite a thrill; horse always stood rock steady. One day the Blue Angels had an air show and there I was at the end of the runway having the time of my life up close and personal with these brave pilots (no, I wasn’t brave; just young and “invincible”). An hour or so after the show, I wandered over to the little airport snackbar for lunch. As I was standing at the end of the food counter line, in walked the Blue Angel pilots. One of them looked at me with a twinkle in his eye and said, “Did you enjoy the air show? You and your horse had the best seat in the house.”
      …

      Report this comment

      OUTRIDER WRITER  
  • MRMANN
    Posted on September 19, 2012 at 5:22am

    Yet another reason for me to never fly.

    Report this comment

    MRMANN  
  • Stoic one
    Posted on September 19, 2012 at 4:45am

    That is a cool map!

    Report this comment

    Stoic one  
  • OccamsSword
    Posted on September 19, 2012 at 4:22am

    Test

    Report this comment

    OccamsSword  
  • ISRAELISOURFRIEND
    Posted on September 19, 2012 at 1:50am

    The most striking reality of Obama’s policies are looking at China and Russia, where there are almost no planes at all.

    If Obama is re-elected, and we become slaves under Obama’s Communist regime, then it is clear what our freedom of travel will look like. Or should I say, freedom to travel will be severely limited.

    Vote Obama…Say goodbye to your distant relatives!

    Report this comment

    ISRAELISOURFRIEND  
  • stang289
    Posted on September 18, 2012 at 11:10pm

    http://flightaware.com/live/ is another site to track flights

    Report this comment

    stang289  
  • stang289
    Posted on September 18, 2012 at 10:59pm

    How many are being used to geoengineer our climate ? http://treasurecoastskywatch.blogspot.com/

    Report this comment

    stang289  
  • Flyingfish
    Posted on September 18, 2012 at 10:19pm

    Of course they could put the other 90% of air traffic up there if they could track little planes. Most people don’t realize big airliners actually make up little of the traffic.

    Report this comment

    Flyingfish  
  • wes71
    Posted on September 18, 2012 at 9:28pm

    This is pretty cool but the planes are the size of Long Island. It’s needs to be scaled correctly and then see how it looks. Truth has no agenda

    Report this comment

    wes71  
  • Ted Zeppelin
    Posted on September 18, 2012 at 8:09pm

    .
    That’s it! I’m moving my Tripple A Nests and SAM Sites out of the Sahara.

    They’d welcome me in Israel to “spark” some aluminum showers over Syria and Iran.

    They better stock up on virgins.

    Report this comment

    Ted Zeppelin  
  • erahill
    Posted on September 18, 2012 at 7:43pm

    Add your comments

    Report this comment

    erahill  
  • GumRock
    Posted on September 18, 2012 at 7:34pm

    The plains are Racist I Say !
    look how there is no plains over Africa
    we need to spread those plains around, equal flying over all country’s !
    the world will not be a Just world till the plains all are evenly spread around the earth.

    ok. all kidding aside ,
    lets see wind mills and solar panels take over and power this.

    Report this comment

    GumRock  
  • Grand design
    Posted on September 18, 2012 at 7:10pm

    Out of all these flights in this country and around the world, how many Terrorists have the TSA captured? Hint, it’s not a large number!

    Report this comment

    Grand design  
  • PaxInVeritate
    Posted on September 18, 2012 at 7:07pm

    Nary a plane in Northern to Central Africa.

    Report this comment

    PaxInVeritate  
  • All_Out_of_Bubblegum
    Posted on September 18, 2012 at 4:52pm

    Makes you wonder who’s going to put out all of the fires when an EMP sends all of these flying bombs into our city’s over the course of 2-5 minutes.

    Report this comment

    All_Out_of_Bubblegum  
    • LDSmommy
      Posted on September 19, 2012 at 7:47am

      ACK!!! Thanks, Bubblegum…wish me luck sleeping now.

      Report this comment

      LDSmommy  
    • RedDawn2012
      Posted on September 20, 2012 at 7:58am

      Never happen, Bubble! EMP ain’t so easy to accomplish … you need a NUKE of the proper size and type, a method to launch it into space, and the ability to trigger it at EXACTLY the correct position. The USA can do this. Russia can probably do this. China maybe not. Anyone else … forget about it!

      Report this comment

      RedDawn2012  
  • JTX
    Posted on September 18, 2012 at 4:42pm

    Awesome site! I will be back.

    Report this comment

    JTX  
  • grayling646
    Posted on September 18, 2012 at 4:19pm

    Strange that most of the traffic is over Europe and the United States. Anybody know why that might be so? Anyone?

    Report this comment

    grayling646  
    • autofixer
      Posted on September 18, 2012 at 4:32pm

      The reason that there are more planes over the USA and Europe is the time of the snapshot. Asia is 12+/- hours, thus it is the middle of the night in Asia.

      Report this comment

      autofixer  
    • D-Fence
      Posted on September 18, 2012 at 4:36pm

      Buehler, Buehler

      Report this comment

      D-Fence  
  • Mamboon
    Posted on September 18, 2012 at 4:13pm

    It looks like there are more planes in the air in the area from New York to Miami than there are in all of Red China.

    Report this comment

    Mamboon  
    • Chinaneedsteaparty
      Posted on September 19, 2012 at 9:24am

      I can’t believe that the blazers are as stupid as liberals.
      I guess this never occurred to any of you : this picture is taken at 2p.m. EST which is mid-night in China. Try 2a.m. EST, the situation will be reversed.

      Report this comment

      Chinaneedsteaparty  
  • blanco5
    Posted on September 18, 2012 at 4:09pm

    When you put it that way…..pretty amazing more planes aren’t hitting each other. Meanwhile, TSA views this and salivates at all of the molesting they get to do day in and day out on all of those passengers!

    Report this comment

    blanco5  
  • hawk0eye007
    Posted on September 18, 2012 at 4:06pm

    hey look closer, one EMP and these become bombs….. and look how many there is.

    Report this comment

    hawk0eye007  
    • Lothmar
      Posted on September 18, 2012 at 4:31pm

      More then one if you’re talking about total continental saturation. Though a single high atmosphere emp would certainly take out a lot of unshielded crafts in the manner you’re saying ; Especially if it’s in a high traffic area.

      Now that, would be a day that would live in infamy… ~shudders just imagining~

      Report this comment

      Lothmar  
  • mixplix
    Posted on September 18, 2012 at 4:05pm

    Cow a bung ga Buffalo Bob.

    Report this comment

    mixplix  
  • oicu814me2
    Posted on September 18, 2012 at 3:49pm

    yawn..

    Report this comment

    oicu814me2  
  • Lothmar
    Posted on September 18, 2012 at 3:48pm

    For some reason my mind is making a ‘buzzz’ noise looking at this map…

    Report this comment

    Lothmar  
  • Too_Far_Gone
    Posted on September 18, 2012 at 3:44pm

    And ?

    Report this comment

    Too_Far_Gone  
    • CatB
      Posted on September 18, 2012 at 4:29pm

      It’s very cool .. I have used it to track friends on the way to visit me … and once in air and at a certain point … I head to the airport.

      Report this comment

      CatB  
    • Too_Far_Gone
      Posted on September 18, 2012 at 4:58pm

      I sit corrected .. :-)

      Report this comment

      Too_Far_Gone  
  • Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
    Posted on September 18, 2012 at 3:42pm

    What do the 6,000 lies flying out of Obama’s mouth look like?

    Report this comment

    Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra  

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