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Commercially available laser pointers used maliciously

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10 July 2017, 01:20
Naphtali
Commercially available laser pointers used maliciously
Periodically I read about airline pilots being "blinded" by unknown people on the ground point commercially available laser pointers' beams on the cockpits. I just read of people in Hamburg, Germany, doing the same thing to police helicopter pilots. Those pilots are unable to resume flight duty. (I hope temporarily.)

While I anticipate beaming on pilot's eyes will be temporarily blinding, are such blindings permanently disabling - that is, sight is restored but insufficiently for the pilot to return to his flying job?

Have there been instances where sight impairment from this cause is severe enough to be disabling on a general level?

What recourse do people affected by pernicious use of laser pointers - pilots, passengers, business entities employing the pilots, etc. - have? Are people who use the pointers usually identified? Can they be prosecuted criminally as well as civilly?


It's so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and then don't say it. Sam Levinson
10 July 2017, 02:52
Palmer
Some laser pointers are more powerful than others. I have heard it said (was asking my eye doctor about it) that the common ones would require several seconds to permanently damage the retina.

I doubt that anyone shining a common laser pointer at a passing airplane could hold it in the pilots eye long enough.

On the other hand it could easily temporarily cause a problem much like a photo flash going off into your eyes.


ALLEN W. JOHNSON - DRSS

Into my heart on air that kills
From yon far country blows:
What are those blue remembered hills,
What spires, what farms are those?
That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again.

A. E. Housman
10 July 2017, 05:20
Dulltool17
quote:
I doubt that anyone shining a common laser pointer at a passing airplane could hold it in the pilots eye long enough.


I pray you are correct.


Doug Wilhelmi
NRA Life Member

10 July 2017, 06:05
surestrike
quote:
Originally posted by Naphtali:
Periodically I read about airline pilots being "blinded" by unknown people on the ground point commercially available laser pointers' beams on the cockpits. I just read of people in Hamburg, Germany, doing the same thing to police helicopter pilots. Those pilots are unable to resume flight duty. (I hope temporarily.)

While I anticipate beaming on pilot's eyes will be temporarily blinding, are such blindings permanently disabling - that is, sight is restored but insufficiently for the pilot to return to his flying job?

Have there been instances where sight impairment from this cause is severe enough to be disabling on a general level?

What recourse do people affected by pernicious use of laser pointers - pilots, passengers, business entities employing the pilots, etc. - have? Are people who use the pointers usually identified? Can they be prosecuted criminally as well as civilly?


I've been lased about a dozen times over the years. I've never suffered any injury. It is very difficult to apprehend these scumbags. There is a standard phraseology and position reporting procedure. But it's very difficult to pin point the location.

If caught this is a federal felony and hold stiff penalties and a long prison sentence. There have been several of these dumb asses caught recently who were convicted and are doing time in the big house.

The damaging lasers are not the average hand held laser pointers for the most part, they are the more powerful commercial lasers that people get their hands on. The type that they use for rock concerts and such.

http://www.laserpointersafety....egory-arrests.php#on