Laser idiot's hi-tech arrest
NIGEL ADLAM
April 3rd, 2010
INITIATIVE: Pilot Jeff Konemann pinpointed the location of the man responsible for shining a laser at aircraft. Picture: FIONA MORRISON
A RECKLESS idiot who shone a laser pointer in the eyes of several pilots as they came in to land has been caught by the use of state-of-the-art technology.
An angry chopper pilot - who feared the laser pointing would lead to disaster - hovered over the man, noted his position, put the co-ordinates into a computer and led police to his front door.
Jeff Konemann, 49, said pilots could be blinded temporarily by lasers. "They are strong, bright and well directed," he said.
The ex-Navy pilot said he was angered by the laser, only 12 days after two men died in a plane crash at Darwin airport.
"Pointing a laser into the cockpit of an aircraft is very dangerous," he said. "It can end in disaster." The man allegedly shone the laser at several aircraft, including commercial passenger jets, as they prepared to land at Darwin airport on Thursday evening.
Mr Konemann was conducting a training run in a Careflight BK117 aeromedical helicopter when he was targeted.
"I asked the control tower if they wanted me to get a position on him. I hovered over the area waiting for him to shine the laser at me again - and he obliged."
Mr Konemann, who flew choppers for the Navy for 25 years, fed the position co-ordinates into moving map software. The location was obtained and typed into Google Earth.
Police could then be directed to the exact scene of the crime - a cabin in the Free Spirit caravan park at Pinelands, 11km south of the airport.
Police seized a laser and a man faces being summonsed on Federal charges.