Lasers and aircraft...

[V8MoneyPit]

Some people obviously have nothing better to do and really need to get a life.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7812050.stm

[Saffy]

bah there will always be idiots.......but really.....if it such a big deal i.e there is really a serious potential for someone to bring down an airliner (or any aircraft) with a 99p laser pen then it just goes to show there is something seriously broken with flight safety.

Imagine what could be done with a high power large laser mounted on a scope. Imagine if a terrorkiddy stood on a motorway bridge and shined in fueltanker driver eyes over a 1/4mile.

[Smego]

it's just a masive over-reaction, the pilot sees a light and goes into mental mode, there is only one reported case of a pilot being "blinded" for, "about 15 seconds" in over 17,000 recoded cases!!

NANNY STATE!

[dxmedia]

it's just a masive over-reaction, the pilot sees a light and goes into mental mode, there is only one reported case of a pilot being "blinded" for, "about 15 seconds" in over 17,000 recoded cases!!

NANNY STATE!

Remember reading a responce from a pilot about this on slashdot a few years ago.  When Oz banned all lazers over 50mw (or something - can't remember the power). If you actually get on into the cabin and into the eye of a pilot (not talking the 99p lazer pens, more the £30 ones - have a look on the internet, they are sodding powerful - can pin point the sides of buildings across a town centre), then they can't see jack.

Thick chav scum deserves to go down for this. So does that guy who was sat at the bottom of liverpool airports runway with a trancever a few years ago re-directing air traffic !

[/rant having had one shon in my eyes]

[carbore]

Its a wierd one this.

I find it had to understand how they can easily aim a laser at that distance (min 500yds) when it must be very hard to see the dot, especially until it hits something.

Re the size of the problem I cant imagine why anyone would make this up/over emphasize the problem as there seems little political or commercial mileage in that. Its not like ID cards or ASBOs or anything where there will be a huge hooray from Daily Mail readers, I cant think that Pilots will benefit from this publicity as in being paid danger money or other such nonsence (not will they not benefit). So I suppose I suspect it must be a growing problem as usually things only get reported if they are genuine, or non-genuine but worth some money/political mileage to someone?

[V8MoneyPit]

There was some footage on the Beeb showing a handheld laser being pointed at an aircraft by 'someone in a hood'! It is fair to say the aircraft was a *long* way off and it was being illuminated by the laser. Now, I don't know the technical info for these lasers, but it certainly wasn't a low powered item. There were also interviews with a couple of pilots who had experienced it first hand and they weren't happy bunnies.

Whether or not it can bring down an aircraft is maybe not the point. It is plain stupidity to try to dazzle a pilot and that is why this guy deserved being put away.

[Saffy]

it's called aircraft tagging.

A low end, low power 5mW laser pointer start from 1p on ebay (and you can get much higher power ones)
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1313&_nkw=5mw+laser+pointer&_sacat=See-All-Categories
so what is a crappy 1pence 5mW pointer said to be capable of...

A 5 milliwatt laser: a distraction 2 miles away

The diagram below shows the hazard distances for a 5 milliwatt green laser pointer:
It is a potential eye hazard from the pointer to about 52 feet.
It is a temporary flashblindness hazard from the pointer, out to about 260 feet. On the diagram, this is illustrated in the inset photo “Near-flashblindness” which shows what a 5 mW laser looks like at 350 feet.
It is causes glare and is a disruption hazard from about 260 feet to about 1,200 feet. This is shown in the “Glare” inset photo where the runway is not visible.
It is a distraction hazard from the pointer to over two miles (11,700 feet). The distraction can be dangerous during a critical phase of flight, such as takeoffs and landings.

The laser’s light is not truly safe until it is indistinguishable from background lights on the ground. A pilot may notice a flashing dot of light, but it should not be enough to cause a distraction. (This does not mean that anyone should aim a 5 mW laser at a plane if it is over 2 miles away. For one thing, it is very difficult to gauge aircraft distances at night. Even more important, there simply is no reason to aim a laser at an aircraft except in an emergency situation such as a wilderness rescue.)

A 300milliWatt (about 30 quid) pointer is a distraction hazard up to about 18miles away!


some interesting hits here on this site :

http://www.laserpointersafety.com/news/files/tag-airplane.php

esp this one ...
http://www.laserpointersafety.com/news/files/1c62d3016e17124d27a48445b715bfee-48.php

"Six planes had to alter their flight paths into Sydney airport after pilots were targeted in an unprecedented laser "cluster attack', authorities say."

[Disco Matt]

In terms of law-abiding uses for these things, they make great cat toys. The cat will chase that red dot around the house for hours!  :lol:

[freelanderpx54]

In terms of law-abiding uses for these things, they make great cat toys. The cat will chase that red dot around the house for hours!  :lol:

But I don't think the Pilots passengers will appreciate being whizzed around the sky whilst he chases a dot on the clouds.


I doubt the action of shining a crappy laser will bring a plane down but imagine half a dozen lasers pointed at a plane. If you were on that plane and the call went out for a pilot as the captain and copilot were incapacitated - would you think oh the plane will land itself.

In cases like this it is better to be over cautious and see 300 folk walking off a plane rather than hearing on the news that 300 folk died because of some dick with a laser pen

[dxmedia]

would you think oh the plane will land itself.

Fair point, they have done for the past 20 years.

[Lord Shagg-Pyle]

It a fairly regular occurence.

http://www.policeoracle.com/news/Hampshire-Police-Plane-Endangered_20515.html

having had one shone through the window of a patrol car when I was driving was not amusing

[CaptainColourful]

Shining them at anyone who is operating a driving/flying is stupid  [-X

I am thinking of getting one for when I am fishing.
I like to use floating baits and sometimes get pestered by ducks and moorhens . A mate reckons a quick flash of a laser distracts them from approaching the bait.
Do you reckon anyone would complain ?
   

[dxmedia]

Shining them at anyone who is operating a driving/flying is stupid  [-X

I am thinking of getting one for when I am fishing.
I like to use floating baits and sometimes get pestered by ducks and moorhens . A mate reckons a quick flash of a laser distracts them from approaching the bait.
Do you reckon anyone would complain ?
   

The RSPCA?  Going out of your way to blind animals isn't very nice  :roll:

[CaptainColourful]

I wasn't planning on  "going out of my way to blind animals", merely use a quick flash in their general direction to disturb them from my bait.
 

[Saffy]

a quick flash in their general direction to disturb them from my bait.
 

hell yeah, quick flash of your danglies would put me off my food too 

[CaptainColourful]

a quick flash in their general direction to disturb them from my bait.
 

hell yeah, quick flash of your danglies would put me off my food too 

:oops: