FBI: $10,000 Reward For Info On Anyone Who Points a Laser At an Aircraft 445
coondoggie writes "Here's a good idea: The FBI has launched a targeted, 60-day program that will offer up to a $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of anyone who intentionally aims a laser at an aircraft. The FBI said the laser-pointing scourge continues to grow at an alarming rate. Since the FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration began tracking laser strikes in 2005, there has been ridiculous 1,000% increase in the number of laser pointing/aircraft incidents. Last year, 3,960 laser strikes against aircraft were reported — an average of almost 11 incidents per day."
Re:Is this really a problem? (Score:3, Informative)
And here's the pilots little friend.
http://www.iridian.ca/english/... [iridian.ca]
Re: So..... (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/9242814.Man_dies_after_yobs_stop_air_ambulance_landing_in_Calne/
Re:So..... (Score:5, Informative)
The *potential* damage could be a few hundred dead people at the end of a runway. It's not that they're damaging to the eye, they're distracting. When cats start flying aircraft, maybe people will be prosecuted.
Check out the gifs on this page.. I definitely wouldn't want to try landing a plane in that situation.
http://www.laserpointersafety.... [laserpointersafety.com]
And it's worse if you are a helicopter pilot (Score:4, Informative)
When the laser hits the glass/plexiglass, it spreads all around the cabin, making it near impossible to see and possibly temporarily blinding the pilot.
It's pretty damn dangerous.
Pilot - Experience being hit by a laser (Score:5, Informative)
Night landings are, by their nature, more difficult and more dangerous than daytime landings. Assuming visual conditions, nearly everything is dependent upon being able to continuously see runway lights. About 10 minutes prior to landing, the standard procedure is to dim everything in the cockpit to it's lowest setting. The goal of this is to make sure the pilot's eyes are dilated as much as possible to see the runway lights and land safely.
About 5 years ago, I was landing at Chicago Dupage airport. About 1 mile from the runway threshold and about 500 ft above the ground, I was repeatedly hit by a bright red laser. Immediately after the first bright flash from the laser, I felt like I'd just walked from daylight into a dark room. I couldn't see anything. I couldn't see any instruments (Remember, they're all dimmed as low as possible) and the runway lights were suddenly very dim. After the second and third time, I couldn't see the runway lights anymore. My only choice was to add power, pull up and hope that I was still flying straight. I overflew most of the airport and remember finally getting good vision back about the time I was over the subdivision north of the airport. That subdivision is about 3 miles from where it all started. I turned over the subdivision and landed on a perpendicular runway.
I then released a torrent of profanities and considered all of the most painful ways to kill someone if I could ever find the #@(#*$@(#*$@(*##$(@* that hit me with that laser.
I'm all for higher penalties for this crap. It's probably already killed people. We don't know for sure because plane crash victims don't tend to be very talkative.