PlaneFilter — Flight Aircraft Type Lookup#

Look up aircraft type, equipment changes, and confidence scoring for any flight by querying multiple aviation data sources (OpenSky, AeroDataBox, AirLabs) and merging results with weighted confidence scoring.

Prerequisites#

Required#

• Node.js (v18+)
• RAPIDAPI_KEY — Subscribe to AeroDataBox on RapidAPI (free Basic plan: 150 req/month)

Optional (more data sources)#

• AIRLABS_KEY — Get from AirLabs (free: 150 req/month)

Commands#

1. Search Flight#

bash

node {baseDir}/scripts/search_flight.js --flight=CI101 [--date=2026-03-22]

Required env: RAPIDAPI_KEY Optional env: AIRLABS_KEY (adds another data source for higher confidence)

2. Health Check#

bash

node {baseDir}/scripts/health_check.js

Verifies all API keys are set and reachable. Shows which data sources are available.

Output Format#

search_flight.js outputs JSON to stdout:

json

{
  "flightNumber": "CI101",
  "date": "2026-03-22",
  "airline": "China Airlines",
  "origin": "NRT",
  "destination": "TPE",
  "aircraftType": "A333",
  "registration": "B-18311",
  "confidence": 0.6,
  "equipmentChange": null,
  "typeDistribution": { "A333": 1 },
  "sources": ["aerodatabox"]
}

Output Interpretation#

When presenting results to the user, follow these rules:

FieldHow to Interpretconfidence ≥ 0.8High confidence — present the aircraft type directlyconfidence 0.5–0.8Medium — mention "likely" or "most probable"confidence < 0.5Low — warn that data is uncertain, show typeDistribution``equipmentChange not null⚠️ Important — Highlight this! The actual aircraft differs from the scheduled one. Show from, to, and changeType (upgrade/downgrade/lateral)typeDistributionShows agreement across sources. Multiple entries = sources disagreesources emptyNo data found — suggest trying a different date

Note on aircraft type codes: The script automatically normalizes model names (e.g. "Airbus A330-300" → "A333") and filters invalid typecodes. In rare cases, an unrecognized model name may pass through as-is.

How It Works#

1. Parallel query — Hits OpenSky (free, no key) + AeroDataBox (RapidAPI) + AirLabs (optional) simultaneously
2. Confidence scoring — Weighted votes from each source (AeroDataBox 0.9, OpenSky 0.7, AirLabs 0.6)
3. Equipment change detection — If scheduled aircraft ≠ actual aircraft, classifies as Upgrade/Downgrade/Lateral

Troubleshooting#

ErrorCauseFixRAPIDAPI_KEY not setMissing env varexport RAPIDAPI_KEY=your_key or set in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json``403 from AeroDataBoxInvalid or expired keyCheck your RapidAPI subscriptionNo flight data foundFlight not in any databaseTry with a different date or a major airline flight