This is worth a read..
"The Effects of Laser illumination on Operational and Visual Performance of Pilots During Final Approach"
http://www.faa.gov/library/reports/m...media/0409.pdf
It says that "illumination of flight crewmembers with laser radiation > 0.5uW/cm^2 is unacceptable"
If I did the sums right...
A 500mW output laser spread over a 1 meter diameter spot would be around 64uW/cm^2. Thats 128 times the acceptable level.