Aircraft being attacked by lasers

[blaaah]

Laser report, New Scientist
With lasers being so cheap and readily available this situation is likely to get worse, and perhaps the lasers more powerful and dangerous.
I don't think it will be long before new laws are brought out to control laser sales and ownership.
I was thinking of having a tower turret made in my homes roof, 360 degree rotation, double barrel megawatt lasers. The neighbour hood was going to do the same so we could defend the street space from X-wing fighters of the Rebel Alliance, might have to put the plans on hold.
Has anyone has recent experience of people messing about with lasers? I haven't, the last time i saw one was nearly 15 years ago when the red beam ones were popular and people might bring them out to the pub to annoy other drinkers with. I think it's a genuine worry for aircraft, but I seriously would love to have a hugely powerful laser of my own. But maybe I shouldn't be allowed.

 

[Keef]

...unidentified individuals wielding four green laser pointers launched a coordinated attack on six incoming airplanes at Sydney Airport.

A coordinated attack of laser pointers.

...in the wrong hands, a laser is the ultimate long-distance weapon

Laser pointers. More dangerous than cruise missiles.

Yes, I'm going to become a pilot. No, I've never been shot at with a green laser pointer before. Somebody want to straighten me out so I can stop laughing?

Oh, and why does the Food and Drug administration regulate what is and isn't a laser pointer? I can't eat laser pointers, nor can I swallow, drink, or inject them. Therefore they are not food or drugs.

 

[Dotini]

A coordinated attack of laser pointers.


Laser pointers. More dangerous than cruise missiles.

Yes, I'm going to become a pilot. No, I've never been shot at with a green laser pointer before. Somebody want to straighten me out so I can stop laughing?

Oh, and why does the Food and Drug administration regulate what is and isn't a laser pointer? I can't eat laser pointers, nor can I swallow, drink, or inject them. Therefore they are not food or drugs.

Is it possible that someone struck in the eye by a laser might have some sort of adverse effect, like blindness? Bad enough to affect safety of flight?

 

[Famine]

Is it possible that someone struck in the eye by a laser might have some sort of adverse effect, like blindness? Bad enough to affect safety of flight?

Yep:



Depends on the wattage and range, but a green one into a police helo (which aren't usually much more than a couple of thousand feet) or at an airport approach path is potentially enough to put something on the deck in an uncontrolled manner.

 

[the Interceptor]

A coordinated attack of laser pointers.


Laser pointers. More dangerous than cruise missiles.

Yes, I'm going to become a pilot. No, I've never been shot at with a green laser pointer before. Somebody want to straighten me out so I can stop laughing?

Oh, and why does the Food and Drug administration regulate what is and isn't a laser pointer? I can't eat laser pointers, nor can I swallow, drink, or inject them. Therefore they are not food or drugs.

Some weirdos blind pilots of passenger planes with powerful laser pointers during the landing. "Attack" might be a weird wording, but that's what it is, and it is very dangerous. If you are to become a pilot, I don't really understand how you can find this funny.

According to the media, this happens "almost on a daily basis" somewhere in Germany.

 

[spiker]

I am most worried about sharks or cats armed with lasers.

 

[BrutherSuperior]

How steady would one's arm have to be to shine a laser 1000's of ft away onto a craft moving hundreds of MPH?

Birds are more dangerous than any laser pointer.

 

[Northstar]

How steady would one's arm have to be to shine a laser 1000's of ft away onto a craft moving hundreds of MPH?

Birds are more dangerous than any laser pointer.

Not hard at all, mainly since the incidents are usually when the plane is prepping for landing so it's going slower and in a predictable flight path.



Granted the fact it's a video takes away most of the effect, in reality it's blinding.

 

[the Interceptor]

http://www.laserpointersafety.com/laser-hazards_aircraft/laser-hazards_aircraft.html

My god, is this concept so hard to grasp?

 

[OG_Wretch]

I'd assume the laser was attached to a firearm and start shooting back at them...
...maybe they would consider the folly of their actions if bullets started landing near them when they lased a plane.

 

[Northstar]

I'd assume the laser was attached to a firearm and start shooting back at them...
...maybe they would consider the folly of their actions if bullets started landing near them when they lased a plane.

It's happened before.

You may get shot
Because laser gunsights are common, police get very worried when someone points a laser at them. In Florida in 2005, a man was killed when he refused to stop pointing lasers at officers. A similar situation happened in Thailand in 2010. You don’t want to cause any misunderstanding where officers in a targeted police helicopter “shoot first and ask questions later”.

 

[Duke]

A guy is on trial right now (similar issue) for shining a very bright handheld spotlight on a national Guard helo that was hovering about 600 feet above his neighborhood. The pilots were both using night vision goggles and were badly impaired by the brilliance.

 

[opelgt1969]

Not hard at all, mainly since the incidents are usually when the plane is prepping for landing so it's going slower and in a predictable flight path.



Granted the fact it's a video takes away most of the effect, in reality it's blinding.

The guy flying that should have had AK47's shooting at him. It looked to me like that the people on the ground were trying to watch "Fireworks" not fun at all with a giant bee flying overhead making so much noise you couldn't enjoy the sounds of the fireworks!

 

[Famine]

How steady would one's arm have to be to shine a laser 1000's of ft away onto a craft moving hundreds of MPH?

Not very. A plane moving at hundreds of mph tends not to change direction rapidly. This is how people in World War 2 shot aeroplanes down.

Birds are more dangerous than any laser pointer.

Birds are dangerous to one flight. Laser pointers are dangerous to one flight and, if the plane survives, the continued livelihood of the pilot. US1549 wouldn't have survived if the pilots were blinded and Sully wouldn't have gone on to fly another 15 months.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Fact is, if a policeman tells you that something may endanger peoples lives and you may get jailed for it, and you go and do it for entertainment.. makes you a moron. Simple as that really.

 

[homeforsummer]

Not hard at all, mainly since the incidents are usually when the plane is prepping for landing so it's going slower and in a predictable flight path.

Granted the fact it's a video takes away most of the effect, in reality it's blinding.

I know we're all adults here (well, some of us...) but I'd like to add that there should be a language warning on that AUP, and all that jazz...

The guy flying that should have had AK47's shooting at him. It looked to me like that the people on the ground were trying to watch "Fireworks" not fun at all with a giant bee flying overhead making so much noise you couldn't enjoy the sounds of the fireworks!

I do hope you're joking.

 

[Joel]

I am most worried about sharks or cats armed with lasers.

 

[G.T.Ace]

Everyone who thinks it's cool or funny to do this is a complete idiot.
I've also heard from people doing this on highways, pointing at cars from a certain distance, horrible. These pointers should just be completely illegal, no one needs them except for people doing presentations but even there you rarely see them.

 

[01GTP]

Some more info.
This first one is from 2005.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/05/nyregion/05laser.html
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/jan/20/mccarran-among-top-airports-lasers-pointed-planes/

 

[Famine]

Everyone who thinks it's cool or funny to do this is a complete idiot.
I've also heard from people doing this on highways, pointing at cars from a certain distance, horrible. These pointers should just be completely illegal, no one needs them except for people doing presentations but even there you rarely see them.

My dog quite likes hers.

 

[Keef]

Is it possible that someone struck in the eye by a laser might have some sort of adverse effect, like blindness? Bad enough to affect safety of flight?

Of course, as others have said. My initial reaction was to laugh because "laser pointer" brings to mind images of these little dinky things I used in 4th grade to annoy the teacher, now being turned into "the ultimate long-distance weapon." And to think, all terrorists had to do was go to Toys R Us, buy some laser pointers, and bring the world's airline traffic to the ground as they frantically click the little buttons. Maybe they even put one of those little lenses in the end with a design in it. Instead of seeing stars the pilots would see rainbows, or a unicorn, or naked ladies.



Yes, it's a very serious issue. I apologize for not being serious, especially considering I might one day get attacked with a laser while flying a plane.

Is it attempted murder if the laser pointer is shaped like a bullet?

 

[G.T.Ace]

My dog quite likes hers.

Well, yes, you can use it for your pets, but do you really need a laser which can light up areas hundreds of feet away? I remember I had a red laser pointer years ago, but the beam was barely visible after 30 meters or so. And okay, your dog likes it, but she could live without the pointer too (or could've, it's possible she would miss it a lot now if you don't use it anymore) and there are just too many dumb people out there who abuse them.

It's just too bad that so many people don't get how dangerous this really is.

 

[DK]

Everyone who thinks it's cool or funny to do this is a complete idiot.

You're pretty much describing this man's offspring, and all their tracksuit-wearing clones:

 

[Famine]

Well, yes, you can use it for your pets, but do you really need a laser which can light up areas hundreds of feet away? I remember I had a red laser pointer years ago, but the beam was barely visible after 30 meters or so. And okay, your dog likes it, but she could live without the pointer too (or could've, it's possible she would miss it a lot now if you don't use it anymore) and there are just too many dumb people out there who abuse them.

You can say that about quite a lot of things though.

That people abuse them - whether deliberately (they want to make a police helicopter crash) or accidentally (they think it'll be funny), that an item has specifications in excess of what you "really need", that you can live without something is not grounds to ban it. Apply the logic that any of those three criteria is grounds for outlawing an item to everything that you own and see how empty your house gets - and how small it becomes...

 

[RC45]

blank post

 

[Famine]

I know. The ISS, right, flew right over my back yard a couple of months ago. Bright smear of rapidly moving light above my property, mussin' up my place, so I shot it down with an ASAT.

 

[homeforsummer]

Then they shouldnt go around hovering over private residences without probable cause and a warrant to search.

Hovering above your neighbourhood at several hundred feet should no more require a warrant than if officers were on the ground several hundred feet away from your property.

 

[Wenders]

Laser report, New Scientist
With lasers being so cheap and readily available this situation is likely to get worse, and perhaps the lasers more powerful and dangerous.
I don't think it will be long before new laws are brought out to control laser sales and ownership.

They have already brought laws out here in OZ for it and there has been at least one conviction made that I know of.

 

[lukecfc]

Famine, what's an ASAT? To anyone who thinks this is funny, and that a laser wont blind someone at whatever thousands of feet, actually click on some of the links people have posted up, this one in particular, short enough to not tl;dr but still explaining the gist of it.

http://www.laserpointersafety.com/laser-hazards_aircraft/laser-hazards_aircraft.html

My god, is this concept so hard to grasp?

I really don't know why they're doing this. What are they hoping for? Impressing their mates/girlfriend by causing a plane crash or maybe permanently damaging someones eyes? Or some sort of reaction from the pilot? "Oh hello down there, you're so clever for trying to blind us, have $100".

Unfortunately, this is one of the type of thing that you can't play with, like taking a lighter to an open gas cylinder. Sure you can scare some people, but in the end, one of two things will happen. You will have the lighter taken off you by some unimpressed bystander and get in trouble, or a potentially fatal explosion. Likewise with lasers, the only way you can get a reaction is by pushing it too far, resulting in both an accident, most likely fatal, and a lot of trouble. It's just ridiculous that this happens on a daily basis, people really have no idea what they're dealing with.

"if you play with fire, you'll get burned"

The underlying concept is true here, but you're playing not with fire, but the lives of everyone on that plane, anyone who may be killed as collateral damage, millions of dollars worth or equipment and other consequences, legal and otherwise.

 

[G.T.Ace]

ASAT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-satellite_weapon

You can say that about quite a lot of things though.

That people abuse them - whether deliberately (they want to make a police helicopter crash) or accidentally (they think it'll be funny), that an item has specifications in excess of what you "really need", that you can live without something is not grounds to ban it. Apply the logic that any of those three criteria is grounds for outlawing an item to everything that you own and see how empty your house gets - and how small it becomes...

Of course, but when something completly unnecessary becomes a threat for thousands of people, because tons of idiots abuse it, it should be made illegal. Sure, everyone has stuff you don't "need" but you cannot "shoot down" airplanes and helicopters with most of it.

Seriously, who needs a green laser which is powerful enough to light-up an airplane cockpit? I would say only people who want to light-up an airplane cockpit.

EDIT: Only talking about pointers by the way, show laser systems for concerts etc. are something different.