L@ser attacks on Aircraft

[MPN11]

FYI, yesterday's local paper advises that the Channel Islands Director of Civili Aviation is involved in drafting a specific law relating to aiming lights at aircraft and air traffic controllers in Jersey. Laser incidents have gone up in the last year at EGJJ, sadly.

Guernsey already has specific legislation, but as always 'our lot' take ages to achieve anything beyond relying, ineffectually, on the catch-all 'hazarding the operation of an aircraft'.

[Airbubba]

Police aircraft carry spectrographs that can give a very good idea of whether the l@ser the scrote is arrested with is the one that was shone at the aircraft, if everyone has the time and inclination

Are you sure about that? Do you a have a reference for the spectrographs carried by the police aircraft?

For example, the very common green 532 nm DPSS lasers put most of their power into a very narrow spectral line which I would think would be hard to use to tag individual units. These lasers are frequency doubled and diode pumped in infrared but most models attempt to filter out the pumping 808 nm and 1064 nm frequencies.

I guess you could try to generate a signature from the ratio of the three frequencies but somehow I'm not sure that would convince a judge that only a particular laser could be the culprit.

Lasers can be intentionally modulated with a code for identification of the beam as in the LANTIRN targeting system for the F-16.

Anyway, the feds are on the case at LGA:

FBI Investigating Following Recent Laser Attacks On Pilots « CBS New York

“Laser pointers can be extremely destructive,” said CBS News aviation and transportation safety analyst Mark Rosenker, also a former head of the NTSB. “They don’t realize that the actual beam itself can be magnified going through the cockpit glass.”

Gee, I didn't know the cockpit glass could magnify the laser beam...

[underfire]

Any night vision equipment will pick up the beam. In the military, we would wear the cav-navs, and have battles with remote control units and laser pens.

There are many ways to make a LASER these days.

The most common is to get a read/write disk player from a computer. It is very easy to disassemble, solder 2 wires to what is there, and place this in a 6v maglight. Very common with Blu-Ray players to make a blue laser pointer...

The local high school kids, as a project, took a full size laser printer apart, the unit inside ran at 5W...so figure out what power that had compared to a laser pen...

There are many laser range finding devices out there as well, from gun sights to binoculars and survey equipment.

One thing, nothing you can do about stupid.

Perhaps a reflective film on the aircraft windows to prevent the beam from getting inside.

[awblain]

Laser event recorders

There was a BBC story about the devices, and they do exist, doing coarse frequency spectroscopy and time series analysis. Even if the scrotes don't believe they exist, are they willing to take the chance?

Having tried to post the links, there's now a question whether the automatic a-to-at-symbol conversion machine will let these links work.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Police fight back on laser threat

SPIE | Proceeding | Laser event recorder

www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA507278

and then upscale:

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct...55123115,d.d2k

[Airbubba]

There was a BBC story about the devices, and they do exist, doing coarse frequency spectroscopy and time series analysis. Even if the scrotes don't believe they exist, are they willing to take the chance?

Having tried to post the links, there's now a question whether the automatic a-to-at-symbol conversion machine will let these links work.

Thanks for sharing these links, I appreciate it.

It seems to me that the forensic analysis of these airborne systems probably is a little coarser than implied by the analogy of matching a bullet to a gun in the BBC quote by chopper pilot Mike Briggs.

I was skeptical that the spectral measurement alone could distinguish a particular consumer grade laser unit. The Optra/NAVAIR paper in the links gives the actual measured wavelength resolution of the Laser Event Recorder as 7 nm.

But, the GPS data, the superimposed image of the offending site and the power measurement probably seal the deal for the judge when an arrest is made.

[Westnest]

I misread it as "Losers attack on aircraft", and I was really curious if someone stoned a DHC-2 in an Alaska lake again.

[Mechta]

If these spectrographs identify one l@ser pen, how would they cope with, say 20 or 100 taped together in a bundle? Wouldn't the reading just become a blur? L@ser pens are cheap enough, so wouldn't anyone wanting to cause real trouble stand more chance of doing so, by grouping them?

[awblain]

Multi-barrel laser cannon & tracking

If the scrote can coalign a pack of lasers to point within 10m at 10km, maybe he should be able to get a good job instead of endangering people. If anything, having several lasers just makes him more distinctive once he's nicked.

The beam likely spreads over a substantial distance without a launch telescope. Depending on the coherence, it's reasonable to expect a 0.5-mm aperture giving a resolution like the eye, or about 1m per km. There must have been some tool being used to keep it on you. I'd imagine some loser playing with a nightclub laser mount, or bad luck from an outdoor light show.

[Captaintcas]

When being subject to a laser attack ( yes, it is an attempt to harm your aircraft, crew and passengers), extingiush ALL exteriour lights at once. ( black-out ops.).
This will be the end of the attack.

[EEngr]

Need an iPhone app

Crew snaps a picture of the offending l@ser, which records GPS location and attitude of phone. All of this can be used to calculate the beam trajectory and determine a rough source location on the ground. Photo plus source location automatically transmitted to some authority that can make rapid contact with the miscreant.

[RVF750]

I got hit once going into LGW on a westerly approach. The beam came from a very distinctive edge of a town on my left. Police met me on stand and with Google Earth on the WPC's iPhone we narrowed it down to one of three houses in seconds. One contained a known person.....

Nice to have helped. Never got feedback on what they did though....

[Navialden]

I had an experience this summer that led me to think about pilot's awareness of the problem. Circling the circuit to land near Milan, I was passenger just behind the wing (night time). I was hit by a green light and it continued to span the side windows entering the cabin and creating some funny light game. When the acft turned for the final, laser entered from the opposite side. It continued for several minutes. The origin was clearly visible in a group of enlighted building on the ground. No FF/AA thought about a problem, they were going their dues until "cabin crew prepare for landing".
While disembarking I asked to talk to the F/O neare the exit, told him about the problem and he told me "don't know, maybe some disco lights". It was a monday night.
Maybe everyone wanted to go to bed asap, I was disappointed nevertheless.

[Gauges and Dials]

How serious is the threat?

On the road, failure to dim one's brights ("high beams" if you speak American, "full beams" or "main beams" if you speak British) is hardly "attempted murder" Even deliberately shining them at an oncoming driver is considered a relatively minor infraction. On the seas, shining a searchlight into the pilot house of another vessel will get you a good sized fine, but it is not treated as a crime.

How much more serious than either of these two scenarios is it to shine Charles Gould's curious invention at an aircraft? (you can call it that instead of futzing with at signs). I'm thinking that the latter is capable, theoretically, under perfect conditions, of causing permanent vision damage whereas neither of the former are. But in reality, barring enhanced, weaponized blinding systems which would entail high power and a stabilized platform, how serious is it in practical terms if some yutz waves a store-bought pointing device skyward?

[Skyjob]

how serious is it in practical terms if some yutz waves a store-bought pointing device skyward?

I welcome you to join us in our 'office in the sky' and find out for yourself the effects a sudden unexpected laser light being shone into our 'office' can create. You seem or appear to have a lack of the knowledge of experience in this very dangerous matter.

Unlike in a car we continuously scan our instruments, and when approaching to land look both inside and outside repeatedly to ensure a safe outcome of the flight.

Searchlights, beacons, all lights similar to those you described, none of these bother us when flying in the slightest. They are all around airfields and we see them daily. But lasers are a different issue.

Lasers can temporarily blind you or in worst case scenario both of you, while manoeuvring close to ground at very high speed in an until then controlled vehicle far in excess regarding speed and weight then any car travelling the roads ever will. If it doesn't blind you it will startle and distract you maybe enough from achieving a stable approach with all possible results.

One day such vehicle will have an accident and the results will be disastrous, but the aircraft upon investigation will be another perfectly serviceable machine, brought down by human error.

[DogSpew]

Not a Serious problem for the authorities

Reading SkyNews this morning it seems that another clown was arrested last week here in the UK for shining a laser at a Police Chopper. Using their equipment they were able to track him down and make an arrest.
However yesterday he was left off with a caution. The only people taking this problem seriously is the aviation fraternity. Seems that the law system is still living in their cotton wool world. Pathetic!

Will it take a loss of an airframe and multiple deaths to make a difference? Even then I still fear that the law society still won't get it.

[le Pingouin]

Flash blindness for starters. Imagine riding a motorbike down a steep and windy road at speed on a dark night and someone deliberately firing a camera flash off right in front of your face. What are the chances you'd stay upright?

[angels]

Will it take a loss of an airframe and multiple deaths to make a difference?

Sadly, the answer to your question is a resounding "no".

After the tragic events of the weekend which show how dangerous an out of control chopper is -- whatever causes it -- this lowlife gets a caution.

[Capt Scribble]

The level of danger presented by Lasers can be gauged by the incidents reported in real life. To my knowledge Laser illumination has not caused anything other than a minor irritation to the crew, and there must be loads of idiots trying this out. That is not to say that a high power Laser as can be found on the internet could not cause lasting damage but most reports seem to see the flash from the ground and get on with the job in hand. Riding a motorbike is not quite the same game, otherwise napping in flight would not be permitted by my Ops Manual.

[le Pingouin]

Single pilot ops? Helicopter ops? Hand flown ops? Not everyone flies a multi-engine jet with all the whiz-bang gear.

[Gauges and Dials]

My lack of knowledge in this regard

You seem or appear to have a lack of the knowledge of experience in this very dangerous matter.

Yes, that's precisely why I asked the question.