Brom,
The Green Lasers are still <5MW, and are no higher in energy than the less visible red ones.
The panic that this thread embraces is simply awful.
"Loss of vision for 3 days" from a laser pointer hit in flight?? at what range - 200 meters, perhaps? Give me a break, ppng, I simply do not believe you, do you have something more than a war story to show it? Especially when the truly documented case,
"Luttrulla & Hallisey (1999) describe a similar case, a 34 year old male who stared into the beam of a class IIIa red laser for 30 to 60 seconds, causing temporary central scotoma and visual field loss. His eyesight fully recovered within 2 days, at the time of his eye exam." ppng, tell the Doctor who certified your friend's event to write a paper on it and make a name for himself, since an airborne hit is worse than staring at a laser you hold in your hands!
I reiterate, the panic a pilot can feel if he believes that he has been permanently blinded, based on the myths this thread propagates might be worse than the actual flash of light, as bothersome and annoying as it is.
I edited this to add that if folks are using industrial lasers at hundreds of mw strength, the effects are far more serious, and all bets are off, but I would also bet that pointers at <5mw are the culprit in these cases we are discussing. BTW, the Comanche design addresses these issues, and much was learned back than about protecting crews from truly dangerous laser light - the laser that can actually blind you at hundreds of meters is no hand held device, believe me!