Two arrested for airplane laser attacks

[NM]

From news.com.au:

TWO men have been charged with shining a laser light at a plane as it approached Adelaide Airport.

The pair also allegedly shone the light at road users south of Adelaide, a police spokesman said today.

Glad they caught them. What a stupid thing to to. I just hope bringing attention to it in the media does not result in copy-cat stupidity.

 

[munitalP]

Laser - conjures up images of Darth Vader and X-Wing fighters - I wonder what type of Laser these clowns had - an industrial type used for raves or promotions or a powerpoint presenter?

Powerpoint presenter - act of stupidity, tell them off and i bet they don't do it again, industrial type - premeditated action - lock them up for a while and teach them a lesson...



Mr!

:shock:

 

[Nigelinoz]

I have seen quite a few threads on PPRuNe about this sort of idiocy over the last few years,I don't know what sort of lasers they use but I know it is an issue of concern to many pilots.
Quite an extensive PPRuNe thread here:
L@ser & searchlight attacks on aircraft (incl prison sentences on offenders) - Page 6 - PPRuNe Forums
One post gives details of an offender in the UK who was jailed for 6 months after dazzling the pilot of a police chopper in Yorkshire.

 

[samh004]

Laser - conjures up images of Darth Vader and X-Wing fighters - I wonder what type of Laser these clowns had - an industrial type used for raves or promotions or a powerpoint presenter?

Generally they use the green laser pointers as they can go for miles and are actually quite powerful. Not sure if they're readily available for sale in Australia, but they are most places elsewhere.

 

[anat0l]

Generally they use the green laser pointers as they can go for miles and are actually quite powerful. Not sure if they're readily available for sale in Australia, but they are most places elsewhere.

+1; it's not exactly difficult to get a hold of these; more so if you get them from overseas.

In any case, it's stupidity-squared and I think they meant it as a prank for real because they have been caught/accused of doing it to road vehicles as well. The likelihood of them getting jail time, however, is going to be low, most unfortunately. Even if the said plane was involved with an accident, I'm sure some poor sod of a lawyer combined with a gutless Australian judge would have easily got them off with no more than a slap on the wrist.

 

[Walter Plinge]

Readily available from Deal Extreme. Not legal to bring them in by post but plenty try and some succeed. Example --

DealExtreme: $599.00 FirePoint Green Laser Pointer Complete Kit (500mW) * EMS Express

I speak as a regular DX customer (not lasers of course).

 

[JohnK]

Morons! Must have been real funny trying to blind/distract a person in control of an aircraft or motor vehicle.

I hope they get what they deserve although I have a feeling they will get away with it with just a slap on the wrist....

 

[rwatts]

One of the two men, a (foreign) student aged 26 appeared in court today.

(The man's) lawyer said his client thought the laser was a toy and did not think he had done any harm.

A 28 year old man charged with the same offences (prejudicing the operation of an aircraft) will apear in court in September.

The offence carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. It would be nice if the courts thought it at least worthy of a small custodial sentence for a change rather than a good behaviour bond.

Richard.

 

[samh004]

I must admit, the idea that you could shine a small beam of light into the air and see it on something so high up is interesting. However I've only ever tried shining a laser on far off buildings in Hong Kong for that novelty, and got bored quite fast.

 

[Flashback]

(The man's) lawyer said his client thought the laser was a toy and did not think he had done any harm.

Pffft:!: Ignorance is no excuse...

 

[medhead]

Generally they use the green laser pointers as they can go for miles and are actually quite powerful. Not sure if they're readily available for sale in Australia, but they are most places elsewhere.

True but there was also a widely reported incident in Sydney last year that had people up in arms. Turns out the laser in question was an entertainment type set up by the Sydney City Council to do an out side light show, I think on the QVB.

 

[munitalP]

True but there was also a widely reported incident in Sydney last year that had people up in arms. Turns out the laser in question was an entertainment type set up by the Sydney City Council to do an out side light show, I think on the QVB.

Yep thats right, the TV crew got laser attacked - swooped in and there it was - an advertising sign from memory!

Mr!

:shock:

 

[concorde70]

I was on QF453 last night (15/08/09) and someone was shining a green laser onto our aircraft coming into Melbourne. At first I thought that I was looking at a traffic light but then realised that it was far too bright. I think that the danger is that it would be distracting for pilots when they are busiest trying to land the aircraft.

I think that a one off attack would be difficult to trace but if pilots were aware of repeated attacks they could eventually pin point the residential area from where the attacks are taking place and let the police trace the culprits, especially in Melbourne where the suburbs and streets are laid out in quite a regular fashion.