L@ser attacks on Aircraft
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So the tables submitted by Tourist appear to show that the FAA consider that eye damage is unlikely to occur with a strike from a 5 watt green laser at ranges over 250 metres. Green laser light is the wavelength at which the eye is most sensitive, and the most likely to cause physical damage. Higher powered devices exist but are not likely to be portable or handheld and therefore unlikely to be deliberately pointed at an aircraft.
The main hazards of flash blindness, dazzle and distraction exist out to far greater ranges, but pilots should at least be reassured that they are extremely unlikely to suffer permanent injury as a result of a laser being shone in their direction.
The consequences of the other effects are far more difficult to assess and depending on circumstances, could be fatal. So no cause for complacency.
The main hazards of flash blindness, dazzle and distraction exist out to far greater ranges, but pilots should at least be reassured that they are extremely unlikely to suffer permanent injury as a result of a laser being shone in their direction.
The consequences of the other effects are far more difficult to assess and depending on circumstances, could be fatal. So no cause for complacency.
A propos of nothing really but a comment by my daughter on an international call caught my interest. She and her cousin and family are flying out to Japan for some cherry viewing.
She sent their itinerary and mentioned they had been careful to book flights that take off and land during daylight hours, so there will be "no danger from lasers"! Is this a growing perception among the flying public, I wonder?
She sent their itinerary and mentioned they had been careful to book flights that take off and land during daylight hours, so there will be "no danger from lasers"! Is this a growing perception among the flying public, I wonder?
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BBC reporting UK Police pilots testing glasses to protect eyesight against laser strikes. Good luck with that. The dazzle off the canopy glazing is still going to be the major problem in my opinion. I would be concerned that visibility of cockpit instrument displays would be adversely affected in the red and green areas of the colour spectrum.
If it gives pilots reassurance that their eyesight will not be damaged and some protection against flash blindness and dazzle, then it may be worth the trade off.
If it gives pilots reassurance that their eyesight will not be damaged and some protection against flash blindness and dazzle, then it may be worth the trade off.
Gentex make laser protection specs called Dazzle, looks like that is what the NPAS crews are getting. Good piece of kit for defeating civi laser threat, I'm led to believe UK based Key survival equipment know more.
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So which colour laser do they protect against? Gonna be a pretty dark pair of glasses once they block red, green, blue and purple....
Particularly since you will be wearing them at night.
Particularly since you will be wearing them at night.
Tourist, unlike mil laser spectacles I believe there is a choice of day or night specs depending on when you choose to commit aviation. Green/red/blue during the day and green/blue at night.
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BBC reporting UK Police pilots testing glasses to protect eyesight against l@ser strikes.
How police pilots are tackling the danger caused by lasers - BBC News
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Unless I am completely misunderstanding basic physics, glasses cannot both let light through and block laser light. Any pair of glasses that blocks all the common laser frequencies must affect vision.
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Lasers, even consumer items like laser pointers, are essentially monochromatic light sources. Cockpit displays have a much broader spectral emission by comparison. The narrow filter ranges of the glasses should not, in theory, affect the overall visibility of cockpit displays or external views out of the aircraft. Pilots will be able to see red and green cockpit instrument displays just fine.
I don't see this as the equivalent of the 'Iraqi bomb detector', the technology works and is readily available, has been trialled and is in use. If I worked in a area where I faced the possibility of laser threat daily and was concerned about the threat, I'd buy a pair. Granted, this is probably of more use to rotor heads who spend more time at low level but from personal experience of having been lasered on approach to a North African airport (at night) it may well be of use to airline community too. Your choice, your sight.
Last edited by Stitchbitch; 24th Mar 2016 at 06:54.
Courts beginning to act--14months for this character.
Man jailed for shining laser pen at Police Scotland helicopter - BBC News
Man jailed for shining laser pen at Police Scotland helicopter - BBC News
Its not the monochromatic aspect of LASER it is the extreme stimulation/amplification of a single or extremely narrow segment of optical bandwidth that a laser uses so that it is relatively easy to block or filter out while leaving the visible section of the spectrum untouched.
Leaving aside (not trivialising it ) the potential damage to the eye from a pilot vision point of view a really powerful conventional light source would be much harder to block but leave FD displays visible
Leaving aside (not trivialising it ) the potential damage to the eye from a pilot vision point of view a really powerful conventional light source would be much harder to block but leave FD displays visible
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Is there an obvious risk to military aircrew in the event of conflict from deliberate use of lasers to blind?
Has blinding been used as a weapon before?
Do military industrial complexes have enormous resources?
Have the various militaries of the world managed to develop effective visors that defeat the problem?
The answer to these questions would seem to suggest that it is not "relatively easy"
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"The crew of the helicopter were able to direct officers on the ground to a house where the suspect was arrested," Ch Insp Alan Hutton of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said.
"Following a search of the property a bag of lasers was recovered."
Who the hell needs a bag of lasers?
"Following a search of the property a bag of lasers was recovered."
Who the hell needs a bag of lasers?