🔴Live SFO Plane Spotting | Real-Time Aircraft Tracking and ATC Audio at San Francisco Airport (KSFO)

Hi, I'm Andy — the person behind Luftra Aviation. Welcome to the channel!
* Updates October 02, 2025:
- Now prioritizing larger/higher-MTOW aircrafts over smaller ones. Currently excluding tracking of business jets and small regionals. The Queens now have maximum priority to catch the few remaining ones coming into SFO :-)
- Labels should be smoother, but some work is still left.
- Aircraft type infomration and destination/origin information included a couple weeks ago.
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There is now a version without individually labelled aircrafts that runs in parallel to this labeled version and for those that prefer a different experience: https://youtube.com/live/epKl0hYxi0Q
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For years, I’ve been planning to set up a camera overlooking San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and share the amazing activity happening there. Eventually, my passion got the better of me — and I finally made it happen.

But instead of just a static livestream of airport operations, I wanted to go a bit further. So I built a system that can track individual aircraft, overlay live flight data, and stream tower and ground radio communications from SFO — all in one real-time feed.

To make this possible, all flight data (including ADS-B and ATC) is collected on-site and fed into custom-built software. This software merges everything, identifies tracking targets, and controls the camera. Internal system delays are around 1 second — though streaming platforms like YouTube can introduce an additional ~20 seconds of delay due to buffering.

The project has now reached a point where I’m excited to share this live view of SFO with you. It’s still evolving — you might notice a few technical hiccups now and then — but I’m actively working on improvements.

Some upcoming features I’m excited about include:
✈️ Smarter target selection for tracking the more interesting aircraft types
✈️ Better camera performance and tracking logic
✈️ More flexible overlays and view modes

Currently, the stream features:
✈️ Real-time HD video with aircraft tracking
📡 Live ATC audio from SFO tower and ground
📋 Flight data overlays with callsigns, aircraft model, and flight data
🚀 Many more upgrades on the way

Your feedback means a lot — I want to keep improving the experience. And if you enjoy the stream, please consider subscribing to support the channel.

Cheers,
Andy

#SFO #PlaneSpotting #LiveATC #Aviation #AircraftTracking #AI #bayarea