Look up. Where’s that plane going?
There are some indicators that allow people to make a good guess without ever opening a flight-tracking app.
The Daily took a sample of more than 650 flights that passed over Evanston in April and May and reviewed aircraft position and altitude data from research network OpenSky to tell what’s passing overhead.
The sample clustered around a two-day period of April 4 and 5 to ensure flights from all parts of the day were represented. The dataset contained flights from April 3 to May 3.
A plurality of flights end in Chicago, but passengers often end far from the city
Endpoints of 652 flight tracks. Those outside of the continental U.S. are not shown.
The most frequent arrival destination for aircraft that passed over Evanston was Chicago Executive Airport in Wheeling, Illinois, which frequently serves domestic business flights.
Flights heading to Chicago Executive can be spotted as a result of their location over north Evanston. The airport’s approach path sits overhead North Evanston and Wilmette, and the single most distinctive airway that passes over Evanston.
Many flights follow North Evanston airway to Chicago Executive
Heatmap based on 652 flight tracks. Yellow shows the highest concentration of flights, while purple shows the lowest.
While the approach path for O’Hare International Airport usually circles around Evanston, a large number of inbound flights also pass over the city.
O’Hare was also the source of the most outbound flights that passed over Evanston, accounting for nearly 56% of sampled flights.
Flights over Evanston scatter domestically — and internationally
Paths of 652 flight tracks. Flights that appear to end in the ocean went outside of transponder range.
The resulting flight paths are scattered all over the U.S. and globe — largely due to O’Hare, an international airport — including Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and Europe.
Aircraft heading to O’Hare and Chicago Executive can be distinguished not just by altitude but by their paths overhead. Planes bound for Chicago Executive are often seen over North Evanston at around 40,000 feet, whereas O’Hare-bound aircraft take a different route and generally fly lower at around 30,000 feet, appearing larger in the sky.
Email: [email protected]
Bluesky: @ryaninevanston.bsky.social
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