Location: Liverpool based Geordie, so calm down, calm down kidda!!
Age: 49
Posts: 1,319
On my last 2 night shifts, we had 3 l@ser incidents, 2 of which I submitted incident reports for. We also had another 2 'dragon light' dazzle attempts on the same shift. Sometimes it is just security men on sites saying 'hello', sometimes it is scrotes trying to hurt us. My MOR reports are now just cut and paste, filling in the position and times. The majority of incidents (99.9%) are nuisance, but one day we will have an accident on our hands. People will take it seriously then, it always takes deaths to do that......
The issue of Google Adverts for l@sers has been raised in some posts here, which have been moved to an Admin forum in the hope of getting a response from IB. That's about the best that I can do, short of mentioning that I don't see ads these days, there are some excellent adblocker programs around for free
Please don't use this post to go OT about adverts, let's keep to the topic
Oh I do hope these idiots one day decide to shine one on a british Apache then Apache can 'engage hostiles' with some 30mm and maybe a maverick to finish the job.
How much more of this stuff do pilots/bus driver/emergency services need to take?
I got l@zered in my own home!
I really feel for people trying to help other/provide a service and on top all all the day to day grind they have l@zers shone in their face that under certain circumstances could cause complete disaster.
Maybe all aircraft should be fitted with powerful l@zer to l@zer them back!
I see Fleabay has now classified l@ser pointers with a power output >1mw as dangerous goods and no longer allows the sale of them.Although this will not be the end of it, it may help a little,given that most of them are sourced via that method.
Whether you agree or disagree with the science bit, that damage to eyes can or cannot be caused by l@sers, there is the potential for an accident to be caused by a pilot being distracted when having a l@ser directed at them.
As has been well established it is a criminal offence to endanger an aircraft.
The Police pilots that have posted all seem in favour of going after the bad guys, but often don't get to hear about the "attacks", whereas ATC do. Some of these reports may get passed to local Police stations who may or may not know what to do about it.
So why not get organised ?
Why doesn't someone from every Police ASU contact the ATC for their region, and ask that all reports of l@ser attacks received by ATC are recorded and forwarded to them ?
This will probably build up a pattern of attacks ( specific time of day / location etc. ) that can be collated and used to track down the offenders.
.... or are some Police ASU's already doing this ?
Can't speak for the rest, but London Stansted have an Essex police officer liaison officer to co-ordinate evidence of these 'attacks' between Police and CAA. Now that the big stuff is being targeted the CAA has become serious about this menace.
Police aviation has put up with this for years with offenders given a 'Caution' if admitting the offence. We are always a good target due to the mission profile of flying from A to B, hover at B for some time (often over large local authority estates during darkness) at around 1000', giving the local l@ser enthusiasts plenty of time to take aim. Not a lot more we can do about it that we're not already doing.
Policeman blinded by l@ser By Web Reporter A POLICE officer was partially blinded after a green l@ser pen was shone into the car he was driving in Hertford.
The cop was in an unmarked vehicle in Ware Road when it is believed the offender flashed a l@ser which hit the rear-view mirror and was reflected into the officer's eyes.
He suffered partial blindness, pain and discomfort to his left eye. He was treated by a doctor and the blindness subsided the next day, but he has since endured headaches that are thought to have been caused by the l@ser.
Investigating officer PC Ian Minnis, of Hoddesdon police station's area crime group, said: "This is highly dangerous and as we have seen, has caused injuries to a police officer.
"We believe that other drivers may have fallen victim to this and would urge them to contact us if they have any information on 0845 3300222."
# A 31-year-old Hertford man has been arrested in connection with the incident on October 17, 1.52am. He has been bailed until November.
Some form of assault ? - as the Police Offcier was technically injured ( suffering pain & discomfort ),
or maybe a Road Traffic Act offence - there is one that is akin to the ANO offence of Endangering an aircraft, which is :
"Intentionally causing anything to be on or over a road so as to cause danger to road users" ( Section 22A(1)(a) Road Traffic Act 1988 as ammended by the RTA 1991 - I thinK ! )
It appears to be nigh on impossible to get Google to block the l@ser adverts, but a plug in is now running to change any input of "l-a-s-e-r" to l@ser. This will prevent the Google search picking up the dreaded word, and thus stop ads appearing.
Good on TO to sentence them for 6 months, but as we all know, they'll maybe do a month, possibly 2 at the most. Sky TV, 3 squares, Playstation, phone calls, ( 'uman rights you know!).
If it makes you feel any better Helimutt, they'll serve at least 3 months. Standard sentencing policy for custodial sentences under two years
Just an observation but last night just after 8.00 pm the l@ser light show started as usual in HKG harbour. A CASEVAC Super Puma had just dropped a case off at Wanchai and lifted to return to base.
He then flew through the middle of the l@ser light show. I quickly counted 19 l@sers lighting up the sky.
He could have gone East and missed them all but it looks as though he considered the threat so low as to not make it worth while to add five minutes to the return flight.
Are we getting all primped up over this single hand held l@ser thing, when it is demonstrably possible to fly through 19 higher powered light show l@sers?
I haven't got a clue as the to differences ( if any ) between the l@sers used for public l@ser shows / displays etc, which are designed so that the beam is visible to the spectators on the ground, and the l@ser pointer type of device, where the higher powered versions - often purchased outside the UK, are brought into the UK and are used to target aircraft - particularly the emergency services.
There is an obvious difference in a pilot being aware of a light show, and determining that it is safe to fly through it / near it, and the case where a pilot might be operating at night and is SUDDENLY attacked by one of these things.
In the UK the CAA are obviously taking the matter seriously, and I have it on good authority that in the very near future the ANO will be ammended to make it a specific offence to shine a l@ser or other bright light at an aircraft ( in flight ? ), removing the need to prove any sort of intent or persistence as in a case of "Endangering an aircraft"
Last edited by Coconutty; 18th Dec 2008 at 14:44.
Reason: Typo's
There isn't much difference between a 'display' l@ser and a pointer, in that they both produce a beam of light. The technologies used may be different (pointers usually use a solid-state diode), and the output of a l@ser designed for display is generally quite a lot higher. Consequently, display l@sers tend to be much bulkier (the last one I worked with weighed about 60kg), and require very large, heavy power supplies.
In simpler terms, you can light a cigarette by holding it at the output of a display l@ser; I'm yet to see a hand-held pointer that can do that!
