Any P A X seen l-sers . . . . . . . . ?

[AMEandPPL]

There is currently an ongoing thread on R&N concerning the dangers to flights posed by the scumbags who aim powerful l@zers at aircraft, especially at low level. This is from one of the pilots who has experienced such an event
we as pilots can only ever report when we've seen one, but I somehow doubt that the guilty parties will ever be caught, as the area it's coming from can be so large

Just wondered if there was any PASSENGER input on this matter ?

1. Has anyone ever actually seen this sort of thing ? Maybe from a window seat. Were you dazzled / blinded ? Was the cabin lit up green ?

2. On a more practical note, could passenger observations of l@zers help to apprehend the perpetrators ? I personally am very familiar with the area under final approach to my local airport (EGCC). I reckon that if I saw a l@zer being pointed at the aircraft I might well be able to work out the area, and, with a bit of luck, maybe even the street.

What do others think about this ? Might we be able to support the lads up at the pointy end if they are being l@zered ?

[Getoutofmygalley]

You may not be able to see the l-a-s-e-r beam pointing in to the sky from on the ground.

I once had an interesting drive home from LGW when some tosser on the M23 was shining a l-a-s-e-r out the window onto the road ahead, all you could see was this bouncing green ball efect, there was no shaft of light from the l-a-s-e-r to the bouncing ball (If there had been a shaft of light, I would have phoned the police and had the tosser arrested).

I, doing my usual warp speed drive home from the airport overtook the bouncing ball of green light and the person who had the l-a-s-e-r didn't like that, so they pointed it into my car and it struck my rear view mirror and reflected into my eyes.

Fortunately I was able to duck down quite quickly so that the l-a-s-e-r reflection was out of my line of sight, otherwise I could have been blinded.


PS - I am spelling l-a-s-e-r like this because for some reason when typed without the hash, it appears as l@ser.

[AMEandPPL]

I am spelling l-a-s-e-r like this because for some reason when typed without the hash, it appears as l@ser

It's a recent change, presumably in the software, to discourage the numerous adverts for "the said devices" which appeared around the PPRuNe pages. See the thread on same topic in R&N.

[Final 3 Greens]

It's a recent change, presumably in the software, to discourage the numerous adverts for "the said devices" which appeared around the PPRuNe pages. See the thread on same topic in R&N.

Clbuttic, clbuttic!

[critter592]

On my outbound flight on 13 November (EMA - ACE, TCX517K), myself and another passenger spotted a green laser illuminating our aircraft. The other passenger, who was seated a few rows forward from me, informed a flight attendant.
A similar device was aimed at our aircraft on the return flight on 20 November.

Don

[B Sousa]

Interesting. I still think lasers are an unknown quantity. Its not really known what the cheapies will do in terms of damage therefore its a no no to point them where aircrew may be disabled.
As a Helicopter Pilot I have yet to have one pointed my way and wonder whats going to happen should that occur. Should I circle the person and get hit repeatedly while Law Enforcement throw down their doughnuts and heads to the rescue?? Dont know.
Until such time as the science is really known its best not to play with the things. They have a purpose and a warning, should someone decide not to heed the warning, pay the price.

I see it also Lasers, laser.Is this a copyright infringement or a dirty word??

[mphysflier]

I still think l@sers are an unknown quantity

I'm pretty sure that all the laser science there is to know that is relevant to this issue has already been well covered - it's just things like legislation which may not be keeping up with recent developments.

Have a look at the following

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/RS22033.pdf

[Mr Quite Happy]

I dare say that L.A.S.E.R.'s will get banned pretty soon, I mean, the UK government isn't exactly known for restraining itself from a bit of petty legislation to appear strong on crime in the Daily Mail for a day is it..

[msmorley]

1. Has anyone ever actually seen this sort of thing ? Maybe from a window seat. Were you dazzled / blinded ? Was the cabin lit up green?

Yes. I posted in the R&N thread about my experience as PAX: They're surprisingly strong. I saw one as pax when OS457 was targeted on approach to LHR 27L (22nd August). Despite being side on, and thus being much harder to track the aircraft, the glare was incredible and although I experienced no visual sensation it was most uncomfortable.

On a more practical note, could passenger observations of l@zers help to apprehend the perpetrators ? I personally am very familiar with the area under final approach to my local airport (EGCC). I reckon that if I saw a l@zer being pointed at the aircraft I might well be able to work out the area, and, with a bit of luck, maybe even the street.

The same in my case, I was able to identify the building that the laser was being used from (here (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&ll=51.480417,-0.258393&spn=0.001507,0.005289&z=18&msid=115157679549038425161.00045519c16757b438a4b&mid=1219469274)). I had every intention on arrival of identifying who in the CAA reports of this nature should be passed to - instead with a < 6hr stopover in the hotel beckoning before a onward long-haul flight I completely forgot about doing this. It would be good to know if there's a procedure to follow to report this.

m.

[C172 Hawk XP]

Kalispera :)

I was able to identify the building that the l@ser was being used from (here (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&ll=51.480417,-0.258393&spn=0.001507,0.005289&z=18&msid=115157679549038425161.00045519c16757b438a4b&mid=1219469274))

Surely, if you could identify the actual building, the police should definitely be informed ? They might not get the perpetrator on that occasion, but at least local patrols could be aware of the threat (ie that somebody there had a "device", and had targeted aircraft) and might be able to catch the scumbag red-handed another time ! The localisation on the map seemed extraordinarily good - well done !