What plane is flying over my house right now?

The quick answer

1. Open the live map of the sky over Ireland. It shows the aircraft over the island as they move. The map does not jump to your location by itself, so drag and zoom to your area.
2. Tap the aircraft nearest you. Its card gives the flight, the airline, the aircraft type, its height and where it is going, and Skylark draws the track it has flown.
3. Still not sure which dot is the one you can hear? Switch to the 3D view, which puts every aircraft at its real height over the ground, so a low arrival and a jet at cruising height stop looking alike.

The live board beside the map has a filter box. Type a callsign, a registration, an aircraft type or a route to cut the list down to the flight you are after.

Let Skylark find it for you

If you would rather keep your eyes on the sky, two tools do the looking for you.

Hear planes overhead reads out the aircraft passing near you. Press Use my location, or search for a town or street, then start listening. You hear something like “Look towards the south. An Airbus A320 is passing nearby, heading east.” The point you choose stays on your device. Keep the page on screen: switching tabs or locking the phone stops it.

Guided spotting is for choosing your patch of sky and being told where to look. Use your location, explore Dublin, or type in a viewing point under Your view. Skylark then shows which aircraft may be approaching and which direction to face. Location is optional; the page sends an approximate area to fetch live aircraft, and your saved view and sightings stay on your device. Guided spotting with spoken directions opens the same page with its listening controls ready.

Skylark for iPhone goes one step further: hold the phone up to the sky and it names the aircraft in front of you. It is in beta on TestFlight now, with the App Store to follow.

How this is possible

Almost every airliner tells the world where it is. A system called ADS-B has the aircraft broadcast its own position, height and identity several times a second, and anyone with a receiver on the ground can pick it up. Skylark combines feeds from volunteer receivers into one picture of the sky. The field guide to ADS-B explains it properly.

In Europe, ADS-B is not optional for big aircraft. The Single European Sky surveillance rule requires it on aircraft with a take-off mass above 5,700 kg or a cruising speed above 250 knots flying under instrument flight rules [1]. That covers the airliners, cargo jets and business jets that make up most of what passes over Ireland.

When the plane is not on the map

Sometimes you can hear an aircraft, even see it, and it is not there. There are a few honest reasons.

• Small aircraft do not have to broadcast. Aircraft under the 5,700 kg and 250 knot thresholds fall outside that rule [1], and many light aircraft and older helicopters carry no ADS-B at all [2]. Older transponders without position can sometimes be placed by timing their signal at several receivers (multilateration), but that usually works only above a couple of thousand feet [2].
• Military and other state aircraft. The rule lets a state aircraft without the equipment fly if its flight plan says so [1]. Military crews sometimes fly with transponders off: RAF Typhoons have intercepted Russian bombers off Ireland’s west coast that had theirs disabled [3]. Some military aircraft do broadcast; our explainer on military aircraft over Ireland covers which.
• Too low or too far. ADS-B travels in straight lines, so a low aircraft behind a hill or far from any receiver can drop out, and multilateration tracks disappear when an aircraft descends below the height the receivers can see [2].
• Owners who opt out. Some operators, business jets in particular, ask to be filtered from public trackers [2].

Skylark is for curiosity, not navigation. A plane can occasionally be missing or late.

Questions people ask

Can I find out what plane just flew over my house?

Yes, if it was broadcasting its position. Open the live map, find your area and tap the aircraft; the card shows its flight, type, height and destination.

Why is the plane going round in circles?

It is usually waiting its turn to land, climbing out after a go-around, or doing police, survey or training work. See why planes circle over Dublin.

Why is it flying so low?

Most low aircraft are landing or have just taken off. Helicopters and survey aircraft fly low on purpose. See why a plane is flying low over your house.

Which runway is Dublin Airport using?

The Dublin Airport live page shows the wind, the full METAR and which runway the wind favours. Our guide to Dublin’s runways and flight paths explains how the runway is chosen.

Is Skylark free?

Yes. The live map, the board, the 3D view and the day replay are free and need no account.