How to use openATC

Here's a brief introduction on what you can do on this website.

Track flights that are currently under way in Google Earth and Google Maps
Display the tracks of any flights that were recorded since openATC started (August 2006) also in Google Earth and Google Maps
List Emergencies and show their flight tracks in Google Maps and Google Earth
Interact with other users in the forum
Find images of the airplanes with Google Images. Just click on the registration in the search results!

There are various ways to obtain the flight tracks you are looking for.

Showing currently active flights

If you want to find a specific flight, enter the callsign and/or the flight number into the search box in the top right of the page and click "Find Now!". You will then be presented with a list of currently active flights that match your search criteria. If you don't know the callsign, just click "Find Now!" without entering anything, and all flights will be listed (a maximum of 200 flights will be retrieved)
The search results feature two icons to the left of each line. Click on the leftmost icon Show track in Google Maps to open that flight track in Google Maps, or click the icon next to it Show track in Google Earth to open the flight track in Google Earth. After clicking the Google Earth link, you can choose from standard flight tracks or black box style flight tracks. Try them both to see the difference!

Finding historic flights

To find a flight that took place in the past (aka "historic" flights), click the "Power Search" link and enter your search criteria.
Once again, the search results feature two icons to the left of each line. Click on the leftmost icon Show track in Google Maps ) to open that flight track in Google Maps, or click the icon next to it Show track in Google Earth to open the flight track in Google Earth. You have to enter at least part of the callsign or the registration of the aircraft in order to find a flight that took place in the past. Please also note that flights are not considered "historic" until 48 hours after they have left coverage area of the openATC system.

Google Maps/Earth differences

Both Google Earth and Google Maps will keep updating the aircraft position once every minute for as long as there are updates available.

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OpenATC is best viewed with Google Earth.

Click here to download the Google Pack containing Google Earth: