Interference with Police helicopter

[Heliport]

CALGARY A middle-aged city man wasn't trying to help the city police helicopter crew when he pointed a powerful searchlight up at them, police said.
The unusual incident happened Friday night over a southwest suburb as the HAWC1 was searching for a fleeing thief.

The light shining up at the crew was so powerful, the helicopter crew couldn't see anything but it, helicopter crewmember Const. Garth Blais said.

The individual turned his light off but flipped it on again as the helicopter circled overhead.

That was his fatal mistake because ground police were then able to find him and seize the searchlight.

Charges of interfering with an aircraft are pending against a man in his 40s.






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[RW-1]

While flying up the coast one evening just after sunset, some (likely teenager) %&#%^@$% hit us with a green laser pointer, wanted to stop and find the little ^&*% but of course that wasn't an available option at the time.

Any one else have incidents like this?

B., you being in Vegas, don't they have warning areas where the laser shows are, etc?

[ShyTorque]

We had this problem about once a month at one time at the ASU I served at.

A few doors got knocked on, a few lights got confiscated. At least one person in UK has been prosecuted for endangering the aircraft, by the CAA rather than by the police, if my memory serves me correctly.

Some people got the message after we proved that a 13,000,000 candle power NightSun is quite a bit brighter than their torch or laser pen.

They all plead not guilty but video evidence is difficult to counter. :suspect:

[Letsby Avenue]

Hmm.. This happens almost every night shift in our area... I sometimes feel as though I'm caught in the intro to one of those 20th Century Fox movies..

Anyone happen to know what the specific offence is?

[Lu Zuckerman]

I lived about ¼ mile from the North runway at LAX. In a field near my apartment some teenage kids ignited several large blocks of magnesium late at night. It played havoc on the pilots during takeoff, as there is a very large hill at the end of the runway.

Speaking of LASER lights in Las Vegas several years ago a pilot in a commercial aircraft had his vision severely effected by a light from a LASER show.

When police helicopters fly over Watts (a section of Los Angeles) there is a possibility that they will be met not with LASER pen lights but from gunfire.


:ooh:

[Helinut]

LA,

Endangering an Aircraft would seem to fit the bill ...........

[Windle Poons]

LA, in the UK, the offence used to prosecute is section 63 of the Air Navigation Order 2000 (ANO) – Endangering Safety of an Aircraft as per Helinut. Relevant wording here. (http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2000/20001562.htm#63)

In my experience, most lights and laser pens (which are becoming more prevalent and more powerful) shone at aircraft, fall broadly into two categories:

1. Mr Angry/Ignorant who has been woken up/disturbed by the aircraft
2. Young males trying to impress their mates

If you are flying for an ASU you have several extra options, and as Shy Torque pointed out, the use of the NiteSun in return normally does the trick.:ok: However if people are more persistent, then arranging a visit from the local police tends to resolve the matter.

Most lights/lasers tend to be low powered, and are more likely to jeopardise the job you are undertaking, as opposed to the safety of the aircraft. Annoying as they are, in these circumstances you might be hard pressed to prove that the aircraft was in danger, and thereby in a position to prosecute. However as with all things legal, it is a matter of degree/severity, and each case must be treated on its’ own merit. Although I have never experienced it myself, I know pilots that have been ‘hit’ by higher powered lasers, that have got into the perspex causing it to go opaque, and thereby ‘blinding’ the crew completely. In these instances, the authorities should always prosecute, but being ‘blind’ whilst the laser is active makes it much more difficult to locate the source.

I have a letter from a 14 year old lad apologising most profusely for his “idiocy” and “thoughtlessness”. The letter reads as though he was being watched over by his parents as he wrote it, and I got the feeling that he was more sorry about being caught, than he was about what he had done. However I am assured that, in this particular case, his parents imparted a punishment over and above that which the courts would have handed down.:E

Not a problem that is going to go away I think.

WP

[HeliMark]

On a night shift, I usually get blasted 5 or 6 times by numnuts on the ground with their lights. I usually just put my belly towards them and go on. If they become a problem for myself or my observer, then our ground units love to say hello to them usually within 4 minutes or less. That usually results in a hefty fine and the loss of their light. Of course the last one was so thoughtless that he ran when the ground units showed up. Right into his house with a bunch of narcotics all over the place:ok:

Lu, the gunfire isn't so bad lately. But if the current trial of the Inglewood police officer is not liked by that community in the next several days, I am going to have to start sitting on my flack vest again:eek:

[Flying Lawyer]

Charge reduced in case of trying to crash helicopter

CALGARY (CBC) - A man accused of trying to crash the police Hawks helicopter using a bright light will have his charge reduced to mischief.

Stephen Aspenliender, 42, says he was charged last month with interfering with an aircraft. He says he was simply using the light to look for something in his car. "And to avoid hitting the neighbours, I had it pointed towards the sky," he said.
"The Hawks helicopter happened to be flying in a circle around me at the time, and I was therefore charged with trying to crash an aircraft by using a high-intensity beam spotlight."

Aspenliender says the light was not bright enough to bother the pilot at the height he was flying, and plans to hire a lawyer for his next court appearance in two weeks.

[Fortyodd]

The very same thing happened to me last year! A man in East London was using a high powered green laser to search for his missing cat. In order not to frighten his neighbours, he pointed it at the particular part of the sky that I happened to be orbiting in whilst on a vehicle pursuit. Of course, being a fair minded citizen and not at all cynical, I immediately realised what was going on, cancelled the pursuit and got the crew to assist the man searching for his cat..............................;)

[rwm]

I used to live in a small appartment in the north of yyc, and that Hawks chopper used to cicle the area every night. Always with a large bright light sweeping the area. Never had any problem with my car getting broken into though.

[Heliport]

http://www.gov.calgary.ab.ca/police/images/hover.jpg

'Helicopter Air Watch for Community Safety'
best known to Calgarians as HAWCS