Pilots complain of "laser" attacks

[flashl]

Source: Reuters

OTTAWA (Reuters) - At least 33 pilots in Canada, including some flying large commercial airliners, have complained about being flashed in the eyes by bright lights that could be lasers, officials said on Thursday.

Canada's transport ministry said it is probing the complaints, which started in 2005, and had handed most of them over to the police.

"All we know is that a bright light was shone into the cockpit. We don't know if it is in fact a laser and that's why when these reports happen, an investigation is started," said ministry spokeswoman Kirsten Goodnough.

"It is a serious concern because anything that distracts the pilot and affects the safe operation of the aircraft is a problem for us," she said.

Reuters

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN0621886420080307

[Parche]

1. AQC

AL-Qaeda Canada..........:sarcasm: :sarcasm:

:hi:

[pnwmom]

16. This isn't about fear-mongering, or about Al-Qaeda.

It's about a well-known, long recognized risk of laser pointers. These incidents have been documented by the FAA since the mid 1990's, and all commercial pilots are aware of this.

[Orsino]

30. It's not about laser pointers, either...

...until something more than anecdotal evidence is turned up.

[Qutzupalotl]

2. Seriously, this is fucked up.

Pilots just want to land safely. Interfering with that is...well, I'm at a loss for words, for once.

[gratuitous]

5. Indeed it is

There is a conclusion that can be drawn from this: That for all our gee-whiz technology, fighter jets, smart bombs, rapid-fire weapons, body armor, and on and on, that even the fanciest jet is in trouble if its pilot is incapacitated, and that can be done with a three-dollar cat toy.

Maybe it's time we dedicated our "defense" budget to sharing the world's bounty more equitably, and less on trying to protect our "stuff", much of which is really swag stolen from others.

[brentspeak]

3. It could be teenage punks on the ground

The previous town I lived in had a problem with neighborhood skateboard punks flashing laser pointers in drivers' faces at night-time.

[ret5hd]

6. I've got an experiment for you...

I have a 24" level (you know, the builders tool for leveling things) with a laser on one end. I can "aim" the laser by holding it similar to a rifle. I tried aiming this thing about 5 doors down the block pointing it at (stationary) cars and houses, etc. Now granted, i'm a 50 yr old that has had more than my share of alcohol and cigarettes over my lifetime, and i was not in a prone firing position, but i could see that dot waving all around. Plus, the dot was much bigger (maybe a half inch or so), meaning it was more dispersed.

Now, let's extrapolate this out to say 1 mile rather than a couple hundred feet. And to something travelling somewhere north of 200 mph. And the target about the size of a windshield. Hell, let's mount the thing on a tripod to minimize shake.

Barring some high tech gadgetry for aiming and a much more focused laser, this ain't somethin' i'm too worried about.

edit: changing sentece structure to make sense

[truth2power]

10. It's not that high tech...

Last fall the local astronomical society offered an evening of stargazing at our local nature preserve.

The members set up their telescopes in a field after dark and the public could come and view the planets and some star systems. It was awesome. One guy had a really accurate laser pen - especially for stargazing, I think. He was able to point out for us right where a particular star was located when looking for it with the naked eye. Really helpful for those of us who could barely find the north star. It was an extremely powerful laser, and all the members' kids were never allowed to get their hands on it. I assume that was because you could inadvertantly shine it into the cabin of some aircraft that might be passing by.

Maybe some irresponsible person has their hands on one of these things.

[ret5hd]

13. pffft...

trig it out...how many arc seconds is 5 ft at a mile or two. Trained snipers can't hit a 200 mph target at half that distance.

on edit: i'll do some of it for you:

if you moved the tip of the laser pointer as little as .001 (a thousandth of an inch) at one mile you have moved the dot over 5 inches. Move it as little as .010 (probably less than the length of this "1" on your screen) you have moved the dot over 50 inches. Now remember, you also have to move the dot to keep tracking this 200+ mph target which is at max about the size of a windshield. If you are tracking this plane from the side the window is much smaller.

[pnwmom]

15. There are many documented cases of this risk, and the FAA is very concerned

about it.

From the FAA's Office of Aviation Medicine:

http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:-u12uMQc5C4J:www.hf.faa.gov/docs/508/docs/cami/0107.pdf+laser+pilot+eye+danger+FAA&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us

Laser pointers can pose a threat to commercial aviation safety. The most serious recorded aviation incident occurred on October 29, 1997, when an Airworld Airbus carrying passengers enroute from Crete, was illuminated by laser light about two miles from Manchester Airport (England) at an altitude of 600 feet AGL. While the plane was on approach, the captain was forced to look away as a laser pointer illuminated the cockpit (14). The Civil Aviation Authority warned the public that endangering an airline pilot in-flight is a criminal offense carrying a maximum two-year jail sentence. As a result of this and other incidents, the British government subsequently banned the sale of more powerful laser pointers (i.e., those with a maximum power output > 1 mW) (see Figure 4). In the United States, there have been numerous reports of laser pointers illuminating aircraft in- flight. The City of Los Angeles Department of Airports has reported several laser illuminations around their airports and is currently documenting such incidents to quantify the extent of the prob- lem. Reports of laser incidents from the Sacra- mento, CA, and Tucson, AZ, areas have also been documented. Authorities have confiscated laser pointers from perpetrators, counseling some and arresting others. The danger from laser pointer illumination is the visible beam hitting an aircraft’s windshield, which can scatter light and completely obliterate a pilot’s forward vision.

SNIP

[Thor_MN]

22. pfft right back at ya.

Use that trig knowledge to see how much the a beam disperses in a couple miles, compare it to the windows of an airplane and imagine the airplane flying towards you as stand near the runway.

Lots of people get lost in the concept of trying to place that little laser dot through a window moving a bajillion miles an hour!!! IMPOSSIBLE!!!

That little dot is wider than the plane at that distance. You can wiggle it around a bit and still be hitting the plane, thereby shining it in the window. If you are hung up on the speed of the plane, go near an airport on a clear day and watch a few planes come in. They just hang in the sky in the same place while they get bigger. Once they get closer, they will start to move across the sky as they pass you, making it hard to hit then. But when they are out there a couple miles, there is not much movement.

[pnwmom]

28. You've described it very well.

Clearly, you're a person with some knowledge.

And you're not just spouting off.

[Whoa_Nelly]

31. Not all laser pointers are equal

http://www.amazing1.com/laser_pointers.htm

[pnwmom]

12. You might not be worried, but the FAA is.

And so is the FBI.

http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/23237

The US attorney’s office and the FBI this week charged a California couple with shining a laser into the cockpit of a sheriff’s department helicopter, a federal criminal complaint that could land them in jail for up to 20 years and earn them a $250,000 fine.

The federal criminal complaint was filed on December 13, against Jared Dooley and Kendra Snow. The complaint states that on November 8, 2007, at about 10:55 p.m., a green laser beam illuminated the cockpit of a Kern County Sheriff’s Department helicopter, which was flying at 500 feet during routine patrol in Bakersfield, California. When the light hit the cockpit, it disoriented the Kern County Sheriff’s pilot, causing pain and discomfort in his eyes for a couple of hours, the FBI said in a statement.

Despite the vision problems, the pilot and a tactical observer in the helicopter were able to pinpoint the origin of the laser beam at Dooley’ house. On November 27, FBI and local police executed a federal search warrant, locating a hand-held green laser device in Dooley’s pickup truck and a red laser device in his home. Both Dooley and Snow later admitted they had used the green laser device on the night of the incident, the FBI stated. Snow told investigating agents that she and Dooley were standing in the driveway on November 8 and “taking turns shining the laser around watching the tracers in the sky.”

Lasers pose a safety hazard to flight operations, the FBI said and between 1990 and 2005 there were over 400 of them. The focused beams of a laser light remain powerful at extended viewing distances and can expose pilots to radiation levels above those considered to be flight safe. Brief exposure to even a relatively low-powered laser beam can cause discomfort and temporary visual impairments, such as glare, flash blind, and afterimages.

SNIP

http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:-u12uMQc5C4J:www.hf.faa.gov/docs/508/docs/cami/0107.pdf+laser+pilot+eye+danger+FAA&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us

However, as the availability of laser pointers has increased, so have reports of their misuse by some children and adults. In recent years, both the Food and Drug Administration and the American Academy of Ophthalmology have issued warnings concerning the possibility of eye injury from handheld laser pointers and recommended keeping these devices away from children. The purpose of this report was to investigate the illumination of aircraft by laser pointers in the National Airspace System. CASE REPORTS. From January 1996 to July 1999, the FAA’s Western-Pacific Region identified more than 150 incidents in which low-flying aircraft were illuminated by lasers. Laser pointers were used in the majority of these incidents, and there were several occurrences of visual impairment to the pilot. Representative examples of documented reports are presented that involved the illumination of civilian flight crewmembers by these hand-held devices. CONCLUSIONS. Laser pointers have caused ocular injury and may compromise aviation safety when used to illuminate aircraft in critical phases of flight. The physiological effects of exposure to laser light and the regulation and classification of commercial laser products are discussed. The proper selection and use of these devices can minimize the threat of temporary incapacitation and eye injury.

SNIP

As a result of a growing number of ground-based laser illumination of aircraft, several of which re- sulted in vision impairment to flight crewmembers, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revised FAA Order 7400.2D (Procedures for Handling Airspace Matters; Part 8, Miscellaneous Proce- dures; Chapter 34, Outdoor Laser Demonstra- tions), which regulates outdoor laser operations in the National Airspace System (NAS). This guid- ance protects the critical airspace around airports and other sensitive air traffic corridors. In addition, guidance material is currently being developed to protect international airspace against the adverse effects of laser activity on flight operations through a collborative effort with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Laser Emitters and Flight Safety Study Group. This report reviews the incidents of laser pointer illumination of aircraft in the NAS. CASE REPORTS A survey of the FAA’s Western-Pacific Region found 150-plus laser illumination incidents of low-flying aircraft for the period, January 1996 to July 1999. Many of the reported incidents involved laser pointer illuminations of civilian transport, medical evacuation, law-enforcement, military, and private aircraft (8). Several incidents resulted in visual impairment (glare, flashblindness) of illumi- nated crewmembers. The survey suggests that he- licopters are the most vulnerable to threat of laser pointer illumination, due to their relatively slow movement and low-altitude flight. The following are documented reports that de- scribe typical examples of the rapidly growing list of aviation incidents involving laser pointers.

SNIP

[Thor_MN]

21. try your experiment with an object moving directly toward you.

Did you notice it doesn't matter what speed it is moving at? If you are trying to aim at at a car moving along the street from your front door, it's hard to track. If you are standing in the street, it's child's play. The speed of the air craft makes no difference if you are close to the runway. The concept is angular rate of change and the more the target is moving directly towards or away from you, the less the velocity of the target matters in tracking it.

[pnwmom]

27. Unfortunately,

you're saying this to someone who's already made his or her mind up.

But hopefully someone else will learn something. I did. Thanks.

[RC]

4. Then again it could be almost anything shiny on the ground.

Absolutely no information in the article to form an opinion from. More fear mongering.

[skepticscott]

7. Agreed

The article doesn't even say what color the lights were or if they were all reported to be the same. Unless they were red or green, the chance of them being lasers is pretty slim.

[CGowen]

9. One was green according to this article

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=02ad9e90-8a3d-4406-b8d0-f688d90cdfad&k=77032


...

On March 29, 2007 the Detroit Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), which controls traffic for five Michigan airports and Windsor, reported that an unidentified aircraft had been the victim of the illegal use of a laser originating from a position about 5 km south of Windsor.

The OPP responded but were unable to locate the source of the laser.

The second incident occurred on May 8, 2007 when there was a similar report from a plane on final approach to Detroit Metropolitan Airport travelling over the Windsor area.

A Transport Canada report of the incident states "apparently this has been ongoing for some time and the Detroit TRACON unit is warning pilots of the possibility."

The third incident occurred on Sept. 11, 2007 when a medical helicopter transporting a patient from Harper University Hospital in Detroit to Cleveland was hit by a green laser while flying over downtown Windsor.

...

[pnwmom]

14. It isn't fear mongering. It's a legitimate problem that the FAA has been

studying for years.

One of the most serious incidents took place in 1997. From the FAA's office of aviation medicine:

CASE REPORTS. From January 1996 to July 1999, the FAA’s Western-Pacific Region identified more than 150 incidents in which low-flying aircraft were illuminated by lasers. Laser pointers were used in the majority of these incidents, and there were several occurrences of visual impairment to the pilot. Representative examples of documented reports are presented that involved the illumination of civilian flight crewmembers by these hand-held devices. CONCLUSIONS. Laser pointers have caused ocular injury and may compromise aviation safety when used to illuminate aircraft in critical phases of flight. The physiological effects of exposure to laser light and the regulation and classification of commercial laser products are discussed. The proper selection and use of these devices can minimize the threat of temporary incapacitation and eye injury

http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:-u12uMQc5C4J:www.hf.faa.gov/docs/508/docs/cami/0107.pdf+laser+pilot+eye+danger+FAA&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us

[Ian David]

8. Sea Gulls with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads. n/t

[pnwmom]

17. No, mostly it's just stupid kids or adults pointing powerful lasers

into the sky.

[ret5hd]

19. practically impossible.

[pnwmom]

24. The FAA and the equivalent agency in Britain strongly disagree with you.

But you keep thinking you know better than they do.

[awoke_in_2003]

34. I always hated

those airborne rats :)

[pnwmom]

11. Is there eyewear that could protect the pilots from this? n/t

[galledgoblin]

18. I don't see how this could be happening on purpose

someone on the ground accurately aiming their laser pointer into the eyes of a pilot miles up in the sky moving hundreds of miles an hour, and keeping that pointer trained long enough to blind them?

just don't see how it's possible.

probably a mix of causes, all the shinies we have down here reflecting up... maybe even some of those damn spotlights we have in box store parking lots causing all the light pollution!

I'm sure some engineer even right now is designing a cockpit windshield which will better filter out the light.

[pnwmom]

26. The greatest risk is with helicopters and with planes descending to land.

And yes, those laser light shows are a risk that the pilots need to avoid.

[soothsayer]

20. These stories always make me want to try it. I don't believe these stories, either,

but who knows. They do say it's the green lasers.

On edit, here's a cool simulation that shows the glare http://www.pangolin.com/faa/laser-aircraft-animation-and-explanation.htm

[pnwmom]

25. The incidents have been well documented. If you read my other posts

in this thread, you'll be educated.

[truthisfreedom]

23. Like throwing rocks off bridges. People have a destructive side... we're still animals.

Another 200,000 years of evolution, anyone?

[troubleinwinter]

29. I am curious if polarized film on the cockpit windows would help.

[goforit]

32. Now that is positive thinking.

[troubleinwinter]

33. Ya, well guess what.

My dad is NASA retired physicist specializing in optics. And a professional astronomer. I posed the question to him and he said no, it wouldn't be a solution. He uses laser pointers at the night sky when giving demonstrations (he just had to tell me he watches out to avoid aircraft).

So my idea failed, but I'm happy because he didn't give me his usual scientific explanation. Sometimes I'd rather have free time than knowlege.