Nearly 4000 incidents of lasers pointed at aircraft in 2013

"Tentacle, Dutchman, drives French" (Tentacle) 02/12/2014 at 03:11 • Filed to: None

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Seriously... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

FBI to offer a $10000 reward if you report people who fire lasers at airplanes @ Ars Technica

According to the FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration, since 2005, there has been "a more than 1,000 percent increase in the number of incidents with these devices."

In 2013, 3,960 incidents were reported, including 35 incidents as of December 2013 in which the pilots required medical attention.

I'm trying (and failing) to get my head around it. Why would you want to laser-paint a plane? Why would you want to blind a pilot and risk bringing down an aircraft? Is there some ill-percieved rush and/or kick to get out of this? More than 10 times a day, in the USA alone, someone somewhere manages to shine a laser into a pilot's eye(s).

SPNKiX > Tentacle, Dutchman, drives French 02/12/2014 at 03:20

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What the friggin griffin? But really, what else are you supposed to do with those super lasers you get on eBay.? I get the feeling they must somehow call to people... like "point me at a plane, you know you want it."

Tentacle, Dutchman, drives French > SPNKiX 02/12/2014 at 03:25

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What else to do with Satan's own presentation pointer?

I can think of something: How about trying it out on their own eyes first?

Manuél Ferrari > SPNKiX 02/12/2014 at 03:32

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Yeah it's no good to sell these to people

This is like kids throwing rocks at cars. Except way worse

You can't sell the general public friggen laser beams

Random Commenter > Manuél Ferrari 02/12/2014 at 03:42

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Yeah it's no good to sell these to people

Bull. Some people use them to align telescopes. There are other uses for them besides what those idiots are using them for. The actions of morons shouldn't prevent people who use them for things other than shining them on planes from getting them.

Tentacle, Dutchman, drives French > Random Commenter 02/12/2014 at 03:47

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Solution to that: Restrict those high power lasers as if they were guns. You would be able to obtain a laser, and operate it, provided the paper work/permit is in order.

JACU - I've got bonifides. > Manuél Ferrari 02/12/2014 at 04:46

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KnifeKnut > Tentacle, Dutchman, drives French 02/12/2014 at 05:10

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I think part of it is that people do not realize how serious the damage they can cause. Also, possibly attempted terrorism.

Possible defenses? Laser safe glasses for pilots? Airscreen safety coatings?

Tentacle, Dutchman, drives French > KnifeKnut 02/12/2014 at 05:31

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Laser safe glasses will only work if you know what color/wavelength laser is used.

What is it you want to block? 405 nm blue/purple? 445 nm blue? 535 nm green? 640 nm red?

I guess you can go quite a way, given that green lasers are the most prevalent, but wearing laser safe glasses is not fixing the root cause of the problem.

KnifeKnut > Tentacle, Dutchman, drives French 02/12/2014 at 05:40

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I was just blue sky brainstorming, and I have been messing around on the internet instead of sleeping.

Grindintosecond > Tentacle, Dutchman, drives French 02/12/2014 at 08:09

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Last night someone pointed a departing plane just north of Chicago. What sucks is we departed knowing someone was out there and we might get pointed too, never did. Cool part is when a pilot reports it, police are immediately entitle to find them. Rednecks get a targeting laser and don't know to quit playin with it.

Manuél Ferrari > Random Commenter 02/12/2014 at 11:55

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True, I was just too lazy to think of valid uses for them.

The only uses I could think of we're blinding pilots and attaching them to the heads of sharks.

George McNally > Tentacle, Dutchman, drives French 02/16/2014 at 10:09

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I own one of these.....I never take it out of the house.

http://www.wickedlasers.com/arctic

Tentacle, Dutchman, drives French > George McNally 02/16/2014 at 10:49

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What's good to hear. What do you use it for?

X-cchannel-M > Tentacle, Dutchman, drives French 03/05/2014 at 09:39

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Give them a taste of their own medicine?

Bobwad > Tentacle, Dutchman, drives French 03/05/2014 at 19:27

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So, what "medical attention did these piolet need " ? Im sure someone on the ground can sustain the laser directly into an eye for more than a millionths of a second. What damage has been done ?

Tentacle, Dutchman, drives French > Bobwad 03/06/2014 at 00:38

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The damage that can be done, with a visible light laser (so no infra red or ultraviolet) is damage to the retina.

See http://www.aao.org/publications/e…

Here's a bit from a medical journal, where a 15 year old kid hit a mirror with his green high power laser, causing damage to the retina in both eyes, some of which is permanent, resulting in partial loss of vision.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…