Quite frankly, I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet. I used to enjoy parking my motorcycle or car at the end of 27R at LAX on the hill overlooking the Pacific so I could watch all the takeoffs on a sunny day. It was open until immediately after the attacks in 2001, and then I went up there a couple times to listen to how eerilly quiet the airport was (during the lockdown), but each time after that, I was chased off by police until finally they closed the road.
Even with it closed, short final to LAX is well within range of even homemade stuff, same with the takeoff runs.
On the plus side, when (and I think it will happen soon) the attack happens, it will be against a multi-engine plane, so unless they have a multiply redundant attack (eg, a bunch of SA-7s, REDEYEs, or Stingers), the plane should survive.
As a point of conversation, perhaps the fact that the attack has not happened yet could be interpreted as evidence that Al Qaida leadership still exists and has instructed that no attack take place until one with good odds can be mustered. As a supposition, the argument is weak (because the evidence can equally suggest that there is no Al Qaida in the US or no MANPAD systems in their hands), but again, it's just a thought for conversation.
