The same incident made the TV news here in Brisbane...and if they're to be believed, the perpetrator is a trainee private pilot himself so he should know better. Appalling.
A 21-year-old woman who shone a powerful l@ser into the cockpit of a police helicopter “for a laugh” has been ordered to carry out 180 hours' community service. Natasha Forster, of Rochester Avenue, Feltham, aimed the beam at the aircraft, which was flying at more than 1,000ft, forcing the pilot to look away from the windows. Pilot Mark Tuson said the distraction of the light flooding the cockpit could have had catastrophic consequences. The helicopter crew was responding to a call-out in Staines just before midnight on August 10. The two officers in the helicopter were able to pinpoint Forster, who repeatedly shone the beam at them, and directed ground units to the arrest her and seize the l@ser pen. It led to Forster, who now lives at Pavilion Gardens, Staines, being sentenced at North Surrey Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday to a six-month suspended jail sentence after pleading guilty to endangering an aircraft. Inspector Steve Cheeseman, of the Surrey Police air operations unit, said: “Laser pens can be very powerful and to shine one into the cockpit of any aircraft during flight is extremely dangerous. It could easily blind or distract the pilot and puts everyone on board at risk.
“The sentence handed out sends a clear warning to anyone else considering such reckless behaviour. Endangering an aircraft is a criminal offence and it will not be tolerated.”
From the version in my local free paper... " she made 10 attempts with the l@ser..... it had been a joke, claiming she did not realise it was a police helicopter.
Why does an idiot take a l@ser when night fishing?
Inspector Steve Cheeseman, of the Surrey Police air operations unit, said: “The sentence handed out sends a clear warning to anyone else considering such reckless behaviour.”
Yeah, a clear warning they won't be sent to prison. Stupid decision by the court and stupid comment by the cop.
Look at post #82. That was the proper message. Shame it didn't get through to the court near Heathrow!
I only read the first 35 posts, so maybe it has come up. What is minimum l@ser power that could be used to cause problems in a cockpit?
A few months ago I bought a l@ser pen in China, you can make nice star cluster in dark rooms etc. When I take off the front lens it gives a powerfull beam. When the batteries are fresh its strong enough to shine on sky crapers miles away. Would that be enough to influence cockpit operations?
I hardly use & keep it away from my kids.. however everybody can buy them for a few dollars..
In the last few few weeks there have been reports of these devices being directed from a car towards airliners on the approach to Corfu airport in Greece.
I only read the first 35 posts, so maybe it has come up. What is minimum l@ser power that could be used to cause problems in a cockpit?
A few months ago I bought a l@ser pen in China, you can make nice star cluster in dark rooms etc. When I take off the front lens it gives a powerfull beam. When the batteries are fresh its strong enough to shine on sky crapers miles away. Would that be enough to influence cockpit operations?
I hardly use & keep it away from my kids.. however everybody can buy them for a few dollars..
I have been on the receiving side of someone shining his/her green l@ser at a "sky scraper miles away" (i.e. my home). Luckily I didn't suffer any eye damage. Jokes like that can end careers.
A lot of the incidents that have ended in prosecutions of some kind seem to have involved police helicopters.
Is it fair to say that by virtue of having more than one pilot, commercial airlines are less vulnerable to this sort of thing ending in a fatal accident?
I'm asking all this as a non-pilot, just a bit worried about something that is not receiving that much exposure in the press.
From what I understand the beam fills the whole cockpit with a green light so it would be my guess that both pilots suffer impaired vision due to the light.
Had a green l@ser shone into my flight deck a few nights ago, at night ,on final approach at 1000ft. It completely blinds you and impedes night vision for several seconds after.Of course you dont look at it, but trying to get a fix on its location to inform atc, its like trying not to look at the sun. When you have 300 lives behind you, depending on you to land them safely, this is no joke, the book should be throw as hard as possible at whoever thinks its fun to do this.
Location: If it moves, watch it like a hawk: If it doesn't, hit it with a hammer until it does...
Age: 49
Posts: 139
As a PAX I witnessed another one this evening.
Downwind into LL some tw*t in sarf lundun targetted the aircraft. It was certainly deliberate and followed us for a couple of miles, getting 'on-target' at least three times so that I could see back down the beam.
Talked to the III after landing just to confirm that they had seen it and reported it.
Death is too good for them; a perpetual state of transit at somewhere like Mogadishu would be a fitting punishment.
Someone near Sunderland coast was shining a green l@ser at us. I was really surprised how powerful it was especially when the idiot got it right on target.
I am going to call the local bobby. I think I got a reasonbly good fix on the location.
The Beeb is interested in publicising how potentially dangerous this issue is. They would like to interview a professional pilot who has experienced a l@ser incident. If anybody could do this (and - seriously - don't bother unless you have the permission of your employer to do it) click on my username and email me. You'd take part in a live chat session at a high profile time. I am not the Beeb, but I can put you in touch. I can't help them because I have not suffered a l@ser assault.
Looks like they found their man, it made the Beeb news this morning...my worry is that now all the idiots that hadnt thought of doing it will have been given some ideas...
