Save Pilots: Should We Outlaw Laser Pointers?

Laser seeking air to ground missles.

Maybe laser pointers should also be outlawed at sports events. This just isn't cricket... I am not saying that this was the reason we lost the game.

That, and all other pointy items. Sporks might be okay, but I think we should assemble a committee for final arbitration.

They are all ready banned in NSW, but I doubt it will do much good. Guns and knives are banned as well but the justice system is not applying the penalties available so people are just laughing at the law over here. Unfortunately you cannot put brains in statues.

Maybe they should limit the availability of lasers.

I don't see too many older adults going around shining lasers everywhere, like in movie theaters, rock concerts or at the sky.

The little pen lasers are supposed to be too weak to go very far with any intensity. However, when shined directly into your eyes at close range will cause damage to your retina.

When I was in Physical Science class in High School in 1978, we discussed lasers and the teacher made it a point to mention that they should never be directed into your eyes because it will cause retina damage. I would assume this cautionary statement is being made in all High School science classes that are covering the topic of lasers. Especially since lasers are used in so many industries for many different purposes.

I think there should be an age restriction with having possession of lasers.

It's not just pilots that they can cause problems, it's regular motorists that can be placed in danger by them.

With pilots I think there is also an issue of lasers interfering with instrumentation. I don't see how a laser can get directly into a pilot's eyes. Maybe a pilot can explain that with a little more detail if we have one browsing this thread.

As aircraft front screens are "metalized" to allow them to be heated by electricity when conditions promote icing, I am surprised that a ground laser of the cheap variety is thus able even to be seen by a Pilot....even one that has a "YouTube" modification.....surely most light coming from an angle will be reflected.....

Obviously not or there would not be this Blog!!

High power lasers are generally quite expensive (if you have a cheap one please sell it to me!!!) for stupid Kids, as good ones can easily go over $1000 and much much higher.....

Here on the Ms Gulf Coast(Biloxi), One of the casinos installed a high power laser on the roof to serve as an aerial display at night. Right next door was Keesler AFB and pilots going in and out of Keesler were sometimes blinded by the laser show. A complaint later, the laser show stopped and has never been reinstated. I wonder what became of the equipment.

I don't believe in banning everything that some groups want banned. Laser pointers for one serve usefull purposes when used responsibly, along with guns, autos, pneumatic nail guns, etc. It's unfortunate that irresponsible persons have these items. Stronger penalities for use of a laser to cause injury or accident needs to be strengthened and the public be made aware of their dangers.

Good point, well made.

I agree with you.

I just think that an age restriction be placed on them for purchasing so the message gets across that they are dangerous.

When items are made available for anyone to just purchase one across the counter, people in general get the impression that they are harmless and since laser pointers are fun to play with it's easy for parents to not give it any thought when their child possesses one.

Are you nuts? The way you talk, you'd think this happens several times a day. Outlaw anything and only outlaws will have them. Give me a break. It's almost impossible to hit a flying plane. How pray tell can anyone, using a laser pointer, hit the winshield of an airplane, much less the eye of a pilot therein. By necessity this sharpshooter has to be ground based. The pilot is at least a mile, more likely 5-10 miles from the plane. The plane, when susceptable to this laser hit is nose up taking off, how does this guy on the ground hit him in the eye? Give the statistics of pilots that are struck in the eye with a laser pointer. This is another case of the ban-it nuts gone amok.

Hi Morgan, your points are well taken, but these idiots can be a problem when the plane is coming in to land at a low altitude and the offender could be in a high building, also helicopters could be vulnerable with clear view front cockpits.

Morgan 23 wrote: "Are you nuts? The way you talk, you'd think this happens several times a day. Outlaw anything and only outlaws will have them. Give me a break. It's almost impossible to hit a flying plane. How pray tell can anyone, using a laser pointer, hit the winshield of an airplane, much less the eye of a pilot therein. By necessity this sharpshooter has to be ground based. The pilot is at least a mile, more likely 5-10 miles from the plane. The plane, when susceptable to this laser hit is nose up taking off, how does this guy on the ground hit him in the eye? Give the statistics of pilots that are struck in the eye with a laser pointer. This is another case of the ban-it nuts gone amok."

Well Morgan...

Despite being focused and having only slight beam spread at short ranges (say 100 meters), some lasers readily available (and surprisingly affordable) at many sites on the internet are in fact powerful enough to easily travel several miles and still cause problems. At several miles that slight beam spread (reference your Junior high geometry text) results in a much larger "dot" than the one you see when playing with your laser pointer in the boardroom. Although the potential damage that could be caused by the laser at these extended ranges is slightly diminished, some of them, even at several thousand yards have the capability to cause damage to the human retina becasue the lens of the eye focuses the light passing through it onto a single point on the retina's surface.

Daily reports (yes...that was "daily" reports) compiled by the FAA indicate that pilots who's cockpits are illuminated by lasers describe the events as being a distraction and disruption for the flight crews at the most critical times of flight (climb-out / approach). The proper response for the flight crew is to immediately divert there eyes downward to avoid permanent damage. Who would you like flying your plane...the one who is not watching where he/she is flying or the one with permanent blind spots caused by taking one for the team?

The "ban-it nuts" may not be the answer, but a very stong dose of education and (not so) common sense would definitley make the sky's above all of our countries a bit safer.

Regards,

Laser Boy

Both of the perpetrators were caught, and will be punished. I think that should be plenty good enough.

Trying to shine pointers in peoples eyes is very middle school. Adults should have learned better long ago - and children should learn very shortly after they try it in school the first time

I have been making lasers at home for a couple of years now, I use them for halloween events and the like, I would hate to see one of my hobbies outlawed due to the stupidity of a very small minority.

One problem is that it is not just kids who do stupid things with them, there have been a few cases recently of suposed adults targeting helicopters and planes. The US and Australia have legislated against any hand held laser more powerful than 5mw. I fear that the UK government will follow suit if reports of misuse rise.

I have over recent months become very wary of star pointing if I can hear a plane in the vicinity, I do not want to be accused of targeting just because the pilot of the county police chopper is bored......

Regards rog8811

Have you got any tips for home building?

This could be interesting court issue. . . . .If it were every to go to court would these follow under our rights to bear arms?

When we were kids, we threw eggs at cars. As an adult driver, I have been hit by youngsters throwing eggs (what goes around comes around). Very distracting, but should eggs be outlawed?

I went onto a couple of video sites just to see what missusage of lasers had been posted..... There is loads of it, mainly youngsters using the laser to confuse people as to what the green dot is, a case in point http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qG-PAFol20A Titled fun with lasers, at one point a girl in the pool gets the beam on her head, and a guy walking out of a building in the dark gets targeted, who knows if he got it in the face.

You will never stop idiots doing idiotic things, had the video been a more recent post I would have added a comment pointing out the dangers of doing this kind of thing, most comments seem to think it is cool and funny.

Regards rog8811

I've only heard of 1 newstory of a person shining a laser into pilots eyes and I'm sure any occurance would be quick to get to the news. Yeah, its dangerous, but people are way to ready to panic about this scenerio. Maybe we should also ban attractive women and cars because they distract me while I drive. Whomever can keep a laser pointer on a pilots eye, from a distance of at least a mile, while the plane is traveling at least 200MPH gets my kudos. Outlawing laser pointers because of this supposed danger doesn't sound right to me and sounds more like public hysteria.

Hi Wild Ideas

I tend to agree with you on the hysteria part, our NSW government legislates on all sorts of virtually impossible problems to police. It reflects badly on our politicians as it shows there childlike mentality that legislation will fix everything instead of tackling the problem at its roots in good education with positive outcomes instead of all the arty farty rubbish that is now stuffed into our children's minds. However I am pleased to say that our teachers have just forced another big pay rise [ on top of there substantial salaries] out of the government, so no doubt quality of education this year will be exceptional and our children will start to see the error of there ways.

Unfortunately the government never grabs the thistle they are just to damn lazy to create extra work for themselves in the name of good policy's

This is pure hysteria and not based on any scientific incident. Laser pointers in a ground air scenario are harmless for the eye at any practical distance to a plane. The output power of laser diodes is limited to Class I or at worst class IIa. The classification is on the device. If the classification is any different, then a variance of the CDRH/FDA is needed to use the device for any purpose.

It is true that high power laser beams have interfered with air traffic by temporarily startling pilots and the FAA has updated their NOTAM and REGGS in the late nineties to reflect that. Laser power in air is tightly controlled and as a results many aerial lasershows are just not happening anymore.

I was involved in this regulatory process in the late nineties as a consultant from the laser entertainment industry. Many Las Vegas laser installations were shut down in the process as they no longer complied with the FAA regulations.

Before starting threads like this, bloggers should read the available public resources.

Rudi Blondia

rblondia@aol.com

bad conclusion, but good post. The whole point of starting a blog like this is to create interest so we learn more about it in the first place and discuss positives and negatives in each other's logic. You told us good info, but without this blog, the knowledge wouldn't be with any of us. The idea is to let the everybody discuss, the people who know what they're talking about make profound statements, and we all learn things faster.

Hi Rudi,

Thanks for your reply. The issue with the laser pointers is not one of retinal damage but of causing a distraction to the pilot at a potentially sensitive time in a flight. The incidents that prompted the blogs (see links at top) have occurred during landing -- the planes are low to the ground (30-40 feet up) and flying slowly, so the windshields are easy to target with a pointer. The laser dazzle has startled or temporarily blinded the pilots at a time they are supposed to be watching the runway. Is it a problem? If so, what do we do about it?

I think the issue is more general cluelessness than real intent to harm by the perps, but it has caused some risk. The idea behind this blog was not to suggest any one course of action but to get a dialog going, which it certainly did!

Thanks for your participation.

Kristin Lewotsky, the Light & Laser blogger

You might want to ban rocks from the streets and the parks. Imagine hitting a plane's engine with a rock at it is landing, now that's a spectacle and a half!!!!

They are great against drivers and pedestrians too, especially when slingshot from a bridge or a high building.

Quick everyone on the streets to remove every rock you find.

My point is everything can cause damage even our own fingers. Its the incorrect use that should be punished not the items themselves.

If they ban lasers I'll be a rich man!!!!!