Laser in cockpit, caught one

fly22

Well-Known Member
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=5696134



BLUFFDALE -- A Bluffdale man is facing federal charges after he admitted to shining a laser beam at an Apache helicopter near his home Thursday night.
This isn't the first time someone has targeted aircraft in the area with a laser beam in Utah, but it is the first time a suspect will have to answer for the crime.
Chief Warrant Officer Ken Sampson pilots Apache helicopters for the Utah Army National Guard. He was piloting the chopper targeted last week.
Chief Warrant Officer Ken Sampson


Sampson says he and his co-pilot were returning from training when a green light lit up his window not once, but twice. "It was strong enough that it illuminated my window, but not the entire cabin," he said.
They knew it was a laser, so they circled back toward Bluffdale and pinpointed the source. "They contacted the sheriff's office, and we sent a deputy to that location," explained Lt. Don Hutson, spokesman for the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies knocked on doors and met a 30-year-old man. "He mentioned to us that he does have a laser pointer and he was in the backyard at that time," Hutson said.
The man told deputies he uses his laser light to play with his cats. He also admitted he shined his light at the helicopter.
"He pointed it at the helicopter but believed that the helicopter was way too far away for it to make an impact or even see," Hutson said.


Sampson says it was brighter than a pen laser, but not a military-grade laser. "Well, it's dangerous, first of all, because you're interfering. And you know, there are other lasers that are much stronger than what we got illuminated with that can cause blindness or even worse," he said.
Two years ago, the FAA totaled 200 laser flashings over seven years in the Western United States. So far this year there have been nearly 150 reports. On Sunday night, a dozen planes were laser targeted in 20 minutes.
No accidents have been linked to lasers, but Congress outlawed laser targeting of planes in May 2007. The crime can land you in prison up to five years.
Any time you are interfering with aviation operations, whether it's flying or pilot decision making, that's very serious," Samson said. The U.S. Attorney is reviewing the case and considering charges. It's not easy to track down the criminals in cases like these, but a Florida man was nabbed last year when he shined a laser at a Sheriff's helicopter.




Glad they caught this guy.
 
I wonder...

Might've been interesting if the crew had considered it a threat and fired a couple rounds back down the beam line. Or leveled the guy's house with a hellfire.

Then again, I'm nasty that way.
 
OK . . . two things:

(1) don't shine your "laser beam" at something that can kill you

(2) when the police come to your door and ask if you have a "laser beam", the word you're looking for is "no."


:)
 
OK . . . two things:

(1) don't shine your "laser beam" at something that can kill you

(2) when the police come to your door and ask if you have a "laser beam", the word you're looking for is "no."


:)
Yeah I obviously don't agree with shining lasers at aircraft, but how dumb can people be. Thats two separate incidents on here now that both people just admit to it right away, one with the laser in hand when cops show up. I guess maybe people don't realize it's a big deal and probably don't expect any punishment. :confused:
 
Hitting a BlackHawk with a laser is similiar to hunting a Polar Bear with a peashooter- either one will end up with the hunted becoming ....
The Hunter!
icon6.gif
 
I must say its pretty stupid to be shining laser pointers at aircraft but in his defense maybe ordinary people truly don't know that it can cause harm or how far they can go. I think the guy was being honest because he didn't know it was illegal or think that it would do any damage. I don't think (most) people that have done this think "he he, I'm gonna go try to make an airplane crash or make the pilots go blind".

We are all involved in aviation in some way or another and we all know that its bad but I don't think my wife would know that if you shined a little laser pointer at a plane it could potentially blind or distract the pilots.
 
Last year there was an issue in that general area. I remember ATC warning us about laser activity one night as we were lining up for a visual approach. Well, at least he was dumb enough to point it at a military helicopter so they could find him.
 
We are all involved in aviation in some way or another and we all know that its bad but I don't think my wife would know that if you shined a little laser pointer at a plane it could potentially blind or distract the pilots.

I don't worry so much about being blinded, but if a little dot of light shows up scurrying about in the flight deck like Tinkerbell, I'm probably gonna get distracted and have to chase it around. :D
 
Wow. What a dumbass.

You mean to tell me these people that have laser pointers don't understand it's not a flashlight? I learned in high school that a laser continues until it hits something. Maybe these morons skipped that part of class?

Still shining a laser at an Apache. I'm surprised they didn't just hover over his house and point the cannon at him. That might teach him to be picky about what he points that thing at.
 
I don't worry so much about being blinded, but if a little dot of light shows up scurrying about in the flight deck like Tinkerbell, I'm probably gonna get distracted and have to chase it around. :D

It doesn't look like just a little dot of light. When I was lasered it lit up the whole cockpit. Very serious, that.
 
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