Lasers

[Maggie]

I found this today while I was at work. Good article, great to share with others to spread awareness.

 

http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2013/02/blinded-by-the-light/

[Flying Pig]

Ive been hit 4 times with a green laser...... maximum suckage

[McGavin]

I like how the guard makes this sound like a new problem. LE has been dealing with lasers for years. We would get lasered at least once a week. Sometimes we would get an arrest and sometimes it would just be stupid kids. The best case I had was a dirt bag hitting airliners on approach who was later sentenced to 3 years in prison.

 

Lasers are cheap and easy to obtain. The new high powered blue lasers are really scary. They can burn paper and cause permanent blindness. This problem will only get worse as lasers get cheaper.

[Flying Pig]

The first time I got hit, I was in an orbit and thought I was having some sort of a medical episode! The entire inside of the cockpit was brilliant green and the glass looked lke it was covered in green spiderwebs! Wooooo Hooooo those mushrooms I had in my salad must have been the wrong kind!

[C of G]

The last time I was lazed I was flying over New Orleans. Same deal. Bright green laser. Reported it to ATC, but I don't know that anything further was or could be done. For what it's worth (not a whole lot, really), the form to fill out is:

 

http://www.faa.gov/mobile/index.cfm?event=laser

 

I didn't see it in the article.

[Flying Pig]

All the FAA does is "notify local law enforcement". needless to say, its pretty darn impossible to find the source.

[Goldy]

All the FAA does is "notify local law enforcement". needless to say, its pretty darn impossible to find the source.

 

In Los Angeles we have our own form. We also have our own Laser task force with LASD, LAPD and FBI members who are ACTIVELY involved. They will go back out and attempt to get hit, and are pretty effective. If you are flying in So Cal you get the form here:

 

http://www.phpa.org/laser/

[Flying Pig]

That must be a low man on the totem pole gig. Does it come with a great vision plan too? Maybe that could be the new time building job? Screw frost control, go be bait for green lasers!!

Edited February 23, 2013 by Flying Pig

[SBuzzkill]

We have a guy who drives out near our training area and lases us occasionally. The Apache guys were able to track him as he got in his car and drove away but didn't have any good way of reporting the guy.

[Flying Pig]

We have a guy who drives out near our training area and lases us occasionally. The Apache guys were able to track him as he got in his car and drove away but didn't have any good way of reporting the guy.

 

You could have just called the cops anonymously from a liquor store pay phone and reported a smoking hole in the ground.

Edited February 23, 2013 by Flying Pig

[Goldy]

That must be a low man on the totem pole gig. Does it come with a great vision plan too? Maybe that could be the new time building job? Screw frost control, go be bait for green lasers!!

 

Actually not, they will wear their laser "resistant" glasses when seeking out a laser subject. If the guy is foolish enough to hit another aircraft, they usually end up in the pokey. Sorry to hear that other areas don't take it seriously, but LA is number one in blinding aircraft with a laser.

[C of G]

Sorry to hear that other areas don't take it seriously, but LA is number one in blinding aircraft with a laser.

 

I knew LA was famous for something...

[Flying Pig]

We landed in the middle of a street and took a guy in to custody for shining a laser at us.

[C of G]

I hope you beat him with a rubber hose, too.

[Counterrotate]

I once worked with a guy who got arrested for shining a laser at a state patrol plane. He was telling the story at work (I was not a pro pilot at the time) and was being very sarcastic about the implications of what he had done. I chimed in and said "Oh, so you are one of THOSE ********** guys, huh? Do you know exactly what happens when a laser beam hits the plexiglass of an aircraft? It scatters, and it's like somebody flipped a lightswitch on and off which completely destroys the pilot's night vision." He was pretty ashamed of himself after I told him that. Up to that point, he genuinely thought what he had done was no more harmful than just trying to hit the plane with a tiny dot.

 

I end my story with this satirical piece by The Onion: http://www.theonion.com/articles/well-folks-it-appears-some-sh*thead-down-there-is,19975/

[Hotdogs]

I once worked with a guy who got arrested for shining a laser at a state patrol plane. He was telling the story at work (I was not a pro pilot at the time) and was being very sarcastic about the implications of what he had done. I chimed in and said "Oh, so you are one of THOSE ********** guys, huh? Do you know exactly what happens when a laser beam hits the plexiglass of an aircraft? It scatters, and it's like somebody flipped a lightswitch on and off which completely destroys the pilot's night vision." He was pretty ashamed of himself after I told him that. Up to that point, he genuinely thought what he had done was no more harmful than just trying to hit the plane with a tiny dot.

 

He probably doesn't realize that even though the laser at his end maybe only millimeters wide, at the receiving end it is much much wider.