FAA Tackles Record Numbers of Laser Attacks by Pilots


One foggy night in December 2018, as David Hill was trying to land a helicopter, a beam of light suddenly overpowered his night vision goggles.

Emergency pilot Bay Hill, Wis, was called to airlift a teenager who was badly injured in an all-terrain vehicle accident from a village 35 miles north of Madison.

But now, Mr. Hill was temporarily blind.

He tried to find his way by flying about 500 feet above the ground. “It was like looking at the sun and all I could see were bright spots,” he recalled.

Someone had pointed a laser at his helicopter. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, close to 70,000 pilots reported similar episodes from 2010 to 2021. It registered more than 9,700 cases last year, record highand a 41 percent increase from 2020.

When a laser pointer reaches a cockpit, the light can disorient or “totally incapacitate” a pilot who could be responsible for hundreds of passengers on a commercial airplane. The FAA said. Some commercial flight paths have been disrupted, causing pilots to change course or even turn back.

“What you might see as a toy has the capacity to momentarily blind the crew member,” said Billy Nolen, acting executive director of the FAA.

While no planes have so far been reported to have crashed as a result of laser strikes, Mr Nolen said in a phone call that there was always a risk of a “tragic outcome”. “This is not an arcade game,” he added.

The FAA said one factor in the increase in laser attacks is that lasers are becoming increasingly powerful, inexpensive and easy to purchase. The agency said pilots could also get better at reporting incidents. Other observers are society worn out by the pandemic for bad behavior.

“If you are violating the security of my plane, you are an aggressor,” said Captain Dennis Tajer, spokesman for the US Department of Defense. Allied Pilots AssociationThe union representing the pilots of American Airlines. “These are attacks.”

This is a federal crime purposefully aiming at an aircraft with a laser pointer. Offenders can be imprisoned for up to five years; The FAA may also impose civil penalties.

in April, A Philadelphia man was convicted He was sentenced to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine for shining a laser on a police helicopter. one in September Alabama man sentenced He was sentenced to eight months in prison by the local sheriff’s office for aiming a laser at a flying helicopter. Also that month Milwaukee man convicted One year probation for pointing a laser at law enforcement officers during protests against police brutality in 2020.

However, in many cases, cases are difficult to prosecute as airplane pilots cannot easily identify who is pointing the laser. In early March, more than 100 incidents occurred around Seattle-Tacoma International Airport where lasers were aimed at aircraft. FBI offered $10,000 reward to find those responsible.

In some cases, those who beamed lasers at aircraft unwittingly directed law enforcement directly to their location.

In February 2020, California Highway Patrol pilot Jan Sears said he was hit by a laser while patrolling near Vacaville, California, about 55 miles northeast of San Francisco. His plane had an infrared camera that helped identify the source of the light.

“It’s painful,” he said about the laser, describing symptoms like sore and watery eyes, headaches, and blurred vision. Officer Sears said he saw bright afterimages when he closed his eyes for a few days after the strike.

“Young people do stupid things,” he said. “But when you start getting adults who do this, you start to wonder, What’s your motivation?”

Those who point lasers at planes can broadly be divided into two groups: those who are unaware of the dangers they pose and those who are antisocial, said Patrick Murphy, laser safety expert who runs the website. LaserPointerSecurity.com.

According to the accounting of Mr. Murphy, who also serves on a committee that helps advise the FAA and pilots on the matter. more than 100,000 such strikes worldwide He added that those tasked with pointing the lasers were overwhelmingly men.

“It’s a man’s thing,” said Mr. Murphy, adding that when it comes to lasers, the bigger and stronger the better. “It’s like owning a ‘Star Wars’ lightsaber,” he added. “’Pretty awesome: I have this energy beam coming out of my hand.’”

This Food and Drug Administration restricts sale The number of lasers above five milliwatts to be used as pointers, but experts say more powerful lasers are easily bought and devices are often mislabeled.

Some videos on TikTok introduce high-power lasers with links to buy them. Such devices can be used at close range. exploding balloons and light cigarettes.

While other countries have restricted sales of the devices, Mr Murphy and others said such efforts are unlikely to be successful in the United States.

He and other experts said that for now, pilots need to be trained on lasers and be prepared to respond to them. Many pilots also began to wear safety glasses.

But the emergency services pilot, Mr. Hill, was unlucky.

He had to quit his rescue job that evening in 2018. Hours later, she said her eyes were still burning and sore. He was on medical leave until April 2019 due to vision and balance problems. Mr Hill, now 58, retired in April.

Mr. Hill’s doctors said they found no evidence that his problems were linked to the laser impact, and experts say permanent injury from laser impacts is extremely unlikely. But Mr. Hill said he believes there is a correlation.

“I know I’ve been experiencing this laser pulse,” he said. “After a little over three months, I couldn’t fly.”

Sheelagh McNeill contributed to research.



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