e-Bay have announced :
Hazardous materials policy – l@zer pointers
From 1st November we'll be extending our
Hazardous Materials policy to include l@zer pointers.
Listings of hand-held lasers with an output of more than 1mW are generally not permitted on eBay. The only exceptions to this policy are club/disco/'rave' type l@zers, which may generally be listed, even if their output is greater than 1mW. For further information on l@zer safety, please visit the
HPA website.
Of course the more powerful types can stil be purchased while on holiday and be brought back home in a suitcase of course, but at least e-Bay seem to be showing a responsible attitude
Meanwhile I would suggest that all pilots subject of such "attacks" that are of concern to them, report the details to ATC, asking that the information is passed to local Police - after all the offence of "Endangering an aircraft" is an "Arrestable offence" which the Police should be keen to deal with ( and improve their detection figures
).
Now here's a novel idea - why don't ATC collate all these reports and pass them on to the local Police Air Support Unit - who are the most likely Police department to take notice and do something about it - especially if there is a pattern of attacks that can be identified ( e.g. at a certain time from the same location etc )
