Why are planes flying over Paradise?

Live planes overhead, which way the airports are landing right now, and the air traffic controllers working the sky over Paradise, NV.

Quick answer

Paradise is within 20 miles of 3 airports with control towers: Harry Reid International, North Las Vegas and Henderson Executive. Most planes you see over Paradise are taking off from or landing at one of them. Airports take off and land into the wind, so when the wind changes, the paths over Paradise change too.

Right now over Paradise

Live aircraft within about 8 miles of Paradise, updated every 30 seconds.

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Open the live radar for Paradise →See every plane on the full live map ↗
Listen to the controllers liveHear the air traffic controllers talking to the planes over Paradise, free and live.Opens LiveATC, free feeds run by volunteers (not part of Thank ATC). Not every tower has a feed at all hours.

Hearing helicopters or sirens? Listen to the Clark County police scanner ↗

Flying for Thanksgiving? Last year the busiest hour at LAS security was 5–6 AM on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. This year that’s Sunday, Nov 29. See every hour at LAS →

Which way the airports are landing right now

Planes take off and land into the wind. Here is the wind at each airport right now, and what it means for the planes over Paradise.

LASHarry Reid International1 mi south-southwest

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LAS runway in use today →Thank LAS Tower →
VGTNorth Las Vegas8 mi north-northwest

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VGT runway in use today →Thank VGT Tower →
HNDHenderson Executive9 mi south

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HND runway in use today →Thank HND Tower →

Tap the map to see how often planes pass over that spot. Zoom in with + and –, or pinch with two fingers. 📍 shows where you are. ⤢ goes back to the full view.

Live planes move along their real tracks: pink is low (under 3,000 feet, with altitude in hundreds of feet), navy is climbing or descending, gray is cruising high, green is a helicopter. Gold arrows show which way each airport is landing. Blue circles are airports with control towers. The shaded paths come from weeks of recorded flights: the darker the shading, the more planes fly there. Street map: OpenFreeMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Arriving planes don’t fly straight to the runway. Controllers line them up like cars merging onto a highway, often 10 to 20 miles or more from the airport, and fly them along the side of the airport before turning them toward the runway. That is why a town several miles from an airport can sit right under the line of arriving planes, and why it changes when the airport switches direction.

Flight paths over Paradise: what the recorded flights show

We’ve recorded months of flights below 10,000 feet over this area. Here’s what they show for Paradise, and which way the wind sets the runways at each nearby airport. These are averages: any single day can be quieter or busier.

  • Aircraft rarely fly right over the center of Paradise: under a minute a day on average.
  • The busiest flight path near Paradise is about half a mile northwest of the center of Paradise, where an aircraft is overhead about 78 minutes a day (very roughly 465 flights), usually around 600 ft above the main airport.
  • There: 99% low, under 4,000 ft.
  • Most of them are heading northeast.
  • It’s busiest on days the wind blows from the northwest (about 2.1 hours a day), and quieter when it blows from the northeast (10 minutes).

Which way the wind sets the runways

  • Harry Reid International (LAS), 1.0 miles south-southwest: over the past year, whenever there was a breeze, it favored landing toward the south (runways 19L and 19R) 57% of the time and toward the west (runways 26L and 26R) 18%. When LAS lands toward the south, arriving planes line up over or near Paradise on their way in.
  • North Las Vegas (VGT), 8.2 miles north-northwest: over the past year, whenever there was a breeze, it favored landing toward the southeast (runways 12L and 12R) 35% of the time and toward the west (runway 25) 27%.
  • Henderson Executive (HND), 8.6 miles south: over the past year, whenever there was a breeze, it favored landing toward the south (runways 17L and 17R) 73% of the time and toward the north (runways 35L and 35R) 27%.

Estimated from the past year’s hourly winds (Nov 2025 to Oct 2026), counting the hours with at least a light breeze. The wind leads, but controllers also weigh noise rules, traffic and runway work, so the runway in use doesn’t always match.

Is your street under a flight path? Check your exact address →

Who controls the sky over Paradise

These air traffic control facilities keep the planes over Paradise safely apart. Each one has a free thank-you wall.

  1. LASTowerLas Vegas Harry Reid Tower (LAS)Takeoffs and landings at Harry Reid InternationalThank them →
  2. VGTTowerNorth Las Vegas Tower (VGT)Takeoffs and landings at North Las VegasThank them →
  3. HNDTowerHenderson Executive Tower (HND)Takeoffs and landings at Henderson ExecutiveThank them →
  4. L30Approach controlLas Vegas TRACON (L30)Guides planes climbing out of and coming down into the airports around ParadiseThank them →
  5. ZLAEn route centerLos Angeles ARTCC (ZLA)Handles flights cruising high over ParadiseThank them →

Why the flight paths over Paradise change

The wind

Airports use the runway that points most into the wind. When the wind swings around, arrivals and departures flip to the other end of the runway, and planes can start crossing a different part of Paradise. That often happens when a front or a line of storms moves through.

Storms

Controllers steer planes around thunderstorms, so on stormy afternoons flights can show up where you normally never see them, sometimes lower and closer together than usual.

Busy times

At busy times, controllers space arrivals a few miles apart and may extend the line of planes farther out, which can stretch the arrival path over more neighborhoods.

Training and small planes

Smaller airports nearby are home to flight schools. Student pilots practice takeoffs, landings and approaches, so you may see the same small plane circle back again and again.

Questions about aircraft noise in Paradise

Aircraft noise is handled by the airport, not by air traffic control. Each airport (usually run by a city, county or airport authority) has its own noise office and wants to hear about specific flights, so note the date and time. The airports near Paradise are:

To find the right noise office, search the airport’s name with the word “noise,” or use the FAA’s airport locator. If the airport can’t help, the FAA’s noise ombudsman can. FAA: Noise complaints and inquiries → · Find your airport’s noise office, and what helps at home →

Nearby towns

Planes over other towns →

Every plane over Paradise is talking to a controller. Say thanks to the people who keep them safely apart.

Find your airport or ATC facility →

Common questions

How many planes fly over Paradise a day?

Very few fly right over the center of Paradise. The busiest nearby path, about 0.5 miles northwest of the center, has an aircraft overhead about 78 minutes a day (very roughly 465 flights).

Which way does LAS usually land?

Over the past year, whenever there was a breeze, the wind favored Harry Reid International landing toward the south (runways 19L and 19R) 57% of the time and toward the west (runways 26L and 26R) 18%. Planes take off and land into the wind, so the direction flips when the wind does.

Why are planes flying so low over Paradise?

Planes low over Paradise are usually landing at or taking off from one of the nearby airports, such as Harry Reid International (LAS), 1 miles away. Air traffic controllers keep every one of them safely separated from the others.

Why are there more planes over Paradise some days?

Mostly because of the wind. Airports take off and land into the wind, so a wind shift can send arrivals or departures over different neighborhoods. Storms and busy travel days can also move or stretch the usual paths.

Which airport are the planes over Paradise going to?

The closest airports with control towers are Harry Reid International (LAS), North Las Vegas (VGT), Henderson Executive (HND). Low planes are usually using one of these; higher jets are often passing over on the way somewhere else.

Who do I contact about airplane noise in Paradise?

The noise office of the airport the plane was using, not the control tower. Have the date and time ready. If the airport can't help, the FAA's noise ombudsman takes inquiries through faa.gov/noise.

Updated November 2026

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