Article from 7 July:
U.K. Pilots Demand Police Crackdown on Laser Attacks
July 7 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. pilots are calling for the government to invest in new technology to help curb laser-beam attacks on airliners after the number of incidents rose sevenfold last year.
The British Airline Pilots Association has written to Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis asking him to ensure that police forces are equipped with state-of-the-art equipment that can locate the origin of laser beams directed at planes.
So-called laser guns, some no bigger than ballpoint pens, can be bought for as little as 10 pounds ($16.20) from Web sites and convenience stores, Balpa said. There were 206 reported incidents of beams being directed at pilots last year, mostly on takeoff or landing, compared with 29 in 2007, it said.
“It’s happening all the time now, at a rate of about four or five times a week,” London-based Balpa spokesman Keith Bill said in a telephone interview. “It’s climbing again this year. It’s an epidemic fad.”
Pilots are being targeted at almost all U.K. airports, including London’s Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, Bill said. Six people have been imprisoned in Britain after being convicted over laser-related incidents, he said.
“The government takes any threat to aviation safety extremely seriously,” the Department for Transport said in an e-mailed statement. “There are already strong sanctions in place to deal with those who endanger aircraft in this way and we are in contact with the Civil Aviation Authority about what further action can be taken on this issue.”
Apparently moronic actions are pretty contagious.
