L@ser attack at NCE
 

I just landed at NCE, on the VOR A 04R approach, when during the turn towards final (at 3 DME CGS) we were attacked by green l@ser from Cap Antibe, off our left side. I was hit directly into my eyes while flying the visual segment of the rather unusual approach. I wasn't blinded, but did ask for the police to meet us upon arrival. Twice.
After getting to the gate and shutting down, I was told it would take quite a lot of time for the police to show up, as they had to do with a liquid spillage.
Where I am from, that's the firemen's show.
Also, where I am from, they have more then 2 policemen working an international airport. They actually do care about l@serattacks, even at eleven at night. They send out a helicopter immediatly. At least they take a statement. But I guess we were just a nuisance, so late at night.

Well, that way we won't be able to stop this crap.
I'll try again tomorrow to file a report.

That's appalling. I hope something can be done.

I don't know which 'police' you contacted but in France there are several police bodies. The areas of responsibility are a bit blurred, at least to me, and the buck usually gets passed around.

The serious guys are the CRS, a division of the Police Nationale, who deal with riot control and protection of important people, nobody messes with them.

Then there's the Gendarmerie which is a a branch of the army and deal with matters of national security. Then you have Police Nationale and I think the DCPAF, the border control police who operate the immigration services at the airport, are a division thereof.

There is also Gendarmerie de l'Air, part of the Ministry of Defence, who might be the best contact as they would probably take this more seriously than the other bodies.

There are also Police Municipale who are a bit of a waste of space and issue parking tickets etc.

I know this isn't much help to you this time but it might be useful for the future.

Thanks, I will see who I can find at the airport tomorrow.

The thing is, I won't have too much time before my plane arrives, maybe 45 minutes. That can be quite short when waiting for anything "gouvernment" to get into motion...

I've been 'lasered' a few times too.

I understand the stupidity of the twits who point these things for 'fun'. Utterly stupid.

OTOH, It's never (luckily?) caused me any actual difficulty. The odd minor green flash of no consequence....

The cops in Nice may have other things to attend to which they think are more of a risk.

I think the whole 'He pointed a LASER at my plane!- we could all have DIED' thing might be a teensy bit overdone.

We had a laser pointed at us while descending into Nice a couple of years ago which we mentioned to ATC. We were met at the gate by the Gendarmes who wanted a lengthy statement which took closer to two hours than one. As a result I am unlikely to mention such activity to Nice ATC in the future.

By coincidence, we had a laser pointed at us on approach to PRG tonight. The Police met us at the gate and asked us to fill in a form with the required details which took less than 5 minutes and the details were radioed through to there colleagues who were already out looking for the miscreant as we were able to give an accurate location to search.

This isn'tthe first time I have been l@sered either. I get one every other month, pretty much all over europe. So far I have always been lucky and my vision was ok. But a checkcaptain on the jump had more time to look, and he had a headache for some hours and didn't see too well.

It is potentially dangerous and not to be trivialized.

What is terrible, is the difference on what is being done about it.

While being l@sered twice in one approach to BHX (from different locations), our reports led to the first one already being arrested before we even had landed. No paperwork required, just a policeman to meet us upon arrival with a map to show him where the second attack had taken place.

In MUC it takes about 10minutes to fill in a multipage form. They do send out a helicopter at once.

The paperwork and reporting is absolutely necessary to get this out into the public to show that it is a punishable offence.
I've had fake clearances issued on the radio also. We caught it immediatley, but I still find this dangerous, just as the l@ser.

As an ATCO in the UK, we note the approximate location, time, colour etc and report it to the appropriate local police force (that can take a while to work out sometimes!) The police must issue us with a crime number which we then note. It is then up to the police how they then investigate the crime. Some forces seem more proactive than others. We also report them to the CAA.

I have been lasered just two days ago-straight into my eye while flying low level (500 ft GND) in a helicopter).

My eye started watering and burning immediately, lucky i could hand over the controls to the other pilot.
Went to see a doctor straight after landing, who could clearly see the damage in my eye using some fluids and UV lights.....
Still suffering some minor pain today (two days later)...

You still think it is "overdone" when you loose your vision-and your job?
:ugh:

L@sers green or other
 

Old techno fellow.. with a warning.. Pointers are really lasers not narrowly focused flashlights. It is a very narrow direct beam between emmitter and what ever comes into its path.

I understand the 'mind flash to find the source'

Looking to locate the source is a seriously risky thing.

Be very careful.

Maybe I'm stupid ...
 

... but can anyone explain to me why everyone is writing "l@ser" instead of using the correct character?

I mean, this will only make it harder for anyone to find the thread using a search engine. Is that the intention?

One can only wonder at the mindset and "professionalism" of a commercial pilot who experiences this and can't be bothered to report it because of the inconvenience of filling in a form.

Simply staggering. Simply sickening.

Thanks a bundle pal, from the rest of us who do have an interest in self-preservation and maintaining the law and safety standards.

:ugh:

another user
 

Think Google ads based on content. Wouldn't do to have ads for pointers showing up on pages about how dangerous they are.

I'm guessing that when Admiral said, but did ask for the police to meet us upon arrival. Twice. he probably meant that he called ground to say what had happened and said he wanted plod to meet the aircraft. Therefore, the onus on contacting the correct branch of the French police was surely down to the controller.

Am I right?

laser,lasors hmmm didn't work, lets try ass-holes nope - that one didnt work...either!

Fair do's, mods. I assume that as a result of fair play, and in the fulness of time, you will also mod this post:

Same in Italy, except the bit about the crime number. We also broadcast the information about the l@ser activity on ATIS for one hour after the event.

Sometimes it is just not practicable to ask every crew to check the new ATIS (e.g. established on the ILS) so the information is given on the ATC frequency. Best reply ever was from an Alitalia crew: "Copied, thank you. If fired upon, we'll strike back".

SunnyJohn

These bloody laser pointers are out there in their tens of millions.
There will always be idiots who like to point them at aircraft- and no doubt at a great many other things too.

It's a hazard that we all have to deal with and in my opinion that is how it's going to stay no matter how many ASRs you file or how many times you report it. I've reported it lots of times myself, though.

I completely agree that a 'direct hit' in the eye can be a hazard or even injure. Luckily I've only seen the beams and had a few very short 'flashes'- so far.

When I hear 'lazing' reported, I keep my head in.

That works.

It's a hazard that's here to stay though, methinks.

Cheers for the report, Admiral, another place where the landing lights will remain off until 100 ft to avoid being a target.

AB

7 million people in London.

Laser "attacked" (by the Daily Mail) on approach to LHR.

Roughly, in Ealing, (if that's where you though it came from; maybe it was Feltham..........?)

Which road would you start searching for the 2" device first?

And if you found two lasers after three weeks of 'stop and search' policy adherence, and both were green, could you be exactly sure it was that one and not the other one, if your company gave you the fuel to recreate the event?

Europe is choking on its own 'free' society and its glorious red tape culture.

Get real. Most European pilots just want to get home after another 11.45 , 4-6 sector day.