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The Airbus A380, the largest passenger plane in history, lumbered out of the fog this morning, landing at Los Angeles International Airport on a maiden voyage to the United States.

The eight-story-tall Airbus touched down at 9:30 a.m. and taxied toward the specially designed gate built to accommodate the 1.2-million-pound jet. The airplane, which can carry 555 passengers and has a 261-foot wingspan, was making its inaugural test flight from the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France.

Airbus A380 landing at LAX: The headline of an earlier online version of this story incorrectly stated that the Airbus A380 jet that landed at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday, March 19, was owned by Lufthansa. Airbus owns the jet that landed at LAX.

An identical Airbus A380 landed in New York within minutes of the Los Angeles touchdown. The New York flight was the luxury version, with a plane filled with company executives, guests and the news media. The Airbus that landed in Los Angeles was virtually empty of people, with 22 crew members, but full of added instrumentation for the test flight.

Los Angeles had fought to host the pivotal moment in U.S. aviation history. LAX was promised the first flight if $49 million in improvements were made at the airport. Airbus then announced this year that it planned to land the jumbo jet in New York instead. LAX officials sent a strongly worded letter to company executives in Toulouse and Airbus relented three weeks ago.

Airplane buffs gathered near LAX in the predawn hours to claim prime viewing spots for the A380's arrival -- a plane Airbus is banking on as the future of aviation with its huge passenger capacity and 9,300-mile range. Several hundred spectators gathered atop an airport parking structure near Terminal 1 for the occasion.

"Oh, that is gorgeous," said Gregg Atherton, 38, of Santa Monica, as the plane dropped out of the sky and landed at the airport's northernmost runway.

Another spectator was Gerald Peebler, 88, of La Mirada, who flew a B-17 bomber in World War II.

"This is a step up," he said as the giant passenger jet descended. "That's a big boy."

When the plane touched the runway, there appeared to be a slight shimmy in the front landing gear. But an Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said there were no glitches in the landing.

"Here it is. Here it is. This is it," said Mark Gagne, 19, of Ventura, listening to air traffic with his scanner.

Long moments went by without sight or sound of the aircraft and an incoming Boeing 747 teased the crowd into thinking the A380 was on final approach.

"The anticipation is killing me. My heart can't take it," said Gagne, putting his hands on his mother's shoulders. "Look, my knees are shaking."

Then, as the words "Welcome to Los Angeles" were broadcast over the scanner radios, two faint lights emerged from the fog. Then the massive wings and engines came into view.

"How is that thing flying?" asked Gagne.