L@ser pens
 

I know there's been a couple of high profile incidents of these stupid l@zer pen things been shone into airliner cockpits lately in the UK, but does it happen much abroad?

I was in Greece last week (Skiathos), and just about every brat on the street had one. Lo and behold, on the flight home - as we were climbing out over Thessaloniki after our fuel stop - our plane was dotted with dozens of l@zer pen lights for about a minute, eminating from various points across the city. One got the missus in the eye as she looked out of the window, and she suffered a light blot on here eye for the entire flight home.

Is this a big problem for crews, because we were genuinely unable to look out of the window of the plane as we went over the city, for fear of being zapped again.

Just wondering, like. It's not good.

The literature that came with my Laser Pen mentions direct contact between the laser and the human eye. It says what amounts to the aiming of the laser directly into the human eye in excess of 40 seconds "might" cause minimal injury to vision. I would say that the strength of a laser pen is not worth much. Certainly a flash across a human eye for a fraction of a second is probably nothing to worry about. But, I'm not an expert in that regard.

It would surprise me that any Gov't would allow such devices to be widespread sold to the general public if they were to cause significant damage or injury to anything or anyone. As for their affect on an aeroplane, it is unlikely any number of these laser pens striking the fuselage would have even the slightest potential for damage. IMHO

Search button helps
 

Hi Harrogate try the PPRUNE search tool and you'll get your answer quickly. There has been a lot of postings recently about Lasers.

Brgds

BladePilot

I didn't think for one minute that they could damage the aircraft. It's the temporary disorientation potential for pilots that I was getting at, and was wondering if anyone has personally experienced it while flying.

The stronger lasers carried by hobbyists - which are freely available from Asia on the internet - interest me. Even the expert chap from a London University who was dismissing the dangers of 'regular' pocket lasers on the radio the other week conceded that the stronger keyring lasers can cause damage, even from very brief exposure.

Most of the ones we saw the other night were green and some were eminating from a long way off across the city. I'm no expert, but they seemed more powerful than regular pocket lasers. And no - they weren't from light installations on the roofs of bars, etc. They were definitely pocket-type lasers.