Newsstand - Pointing a Laser Beam at a Plane Will Get You 2 Years in Prison

Stunt caused flash blindness in one pilot (http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local-beat/Pointing-a-Laser-Beam-at-an-Airliner-Will-Get-You-2-Years-in-Prison-68751857.html)


Getty Images Dana Christian Welch has the unusual distinction of being the first person in the nation to be convicted of interfering with pilots by aiming lasers at their planes. As a result, the 37 year-old Orange County man will spend 2 1/2 years in federal prison.

more at link above

What a fool...

"what a fool" is being way too kind and f/t tos prevents me from giving my real opinion of this yutz ;). good on the feds ^ and i hope he enjoys his all expenses stay

Glad to see the prison time. I hear reports of this several times a year, simply idiotic.

He has got away far to lightly.

Let's look at the intention here, there can only be one purpose in using a laser against a flight deck or cockpit and that is to disable the pilot(s). There can only be one purpose in disabling the pilots and that is to cause a crash, with the concomitant of certain loss of life. Ergo a charge of attempted murder would have been appropriate.

(written as a retired pilot)

Ergo a charge of attempted murder would have been appropriate.
How about something terroism related?

At least they haven't banned the pointers themselves.

A few people were doing this to landing planes at SYD. So the NSW government made having a laser pointer illegal.

I was just wondering how this works? What kind of laser are they pointing at the plane? It must be something much more powerful than my old laser pointer and how are they able to pinpoint the aircraft? I mean, pointing a tiny laser on a target that's 1,000 of feets away isn't too easy, I suppose.

The use of the term "flash blindness" is probably BS when not qualified by "temporary". A more accurate term would probably be "glare".

I was just wondering how this works? What kind of laser are they pointing at the plane? It must be something much more powerful than my old laser pointer and how are they able to pinpoint the aircraft? I mean, pointing a tiny laser on a target that's 1,000 of feets away isn't too easy, I suppose.

Even if you had the hands of sniper, you'd still have the effects of beam divergence (http://www.edmundoptics.com/technical-support/lasers/tackling-laser-visibility/). At thousands of feet the beam would be so wide that the power levels would not pose a real threat beyond the temporary glare effects.

Not that I'm defending the "perp" (his actions certainly call for some punishment), but two years in prison is absurd. What's next, jail time for flashing your high beams at a bus driver (or for the bus driver for having his/her high beams on; something quite common in Chicago), having misaligned HID headlamps, or driving your HID-equipped Acura on a busy & bumpy road?

The real question is whether the illumination was short, or if the person kept the pointer on the aircraft for an extended period of time. The latter would be far more harmful.

Even if you had the hands of sniper, you'd still have the effects of beam divergence (http://www.edmundoptics.com/technical-support/lasers/tackling-laser-visibility/). At thousands of feet the beam would be so wide that the power levels would not pose a real threat beyond the temporary glare effects.

Not that I'm defending the "perp", but two years in prison seems absurd. What's next, jail time for flashing your high beams at a bus driver (or for the bus driver for having his/her high beams on; something quite common in Chicago), or for having misaligned HID headlamps?
People with misaligned HID headlamps (and people designing Ford trucks--they're also really bad) should be thrown in jail! :p

Perhaps the punishment is a bit harsh, but pointing a laser beam into a cockpit is also an incredibly stupid thing to do (and it really has caused temporary blindness). This isn't something that you can claim was an accident (like accidentally running a stop sign and hitting someone or even accidentally firing a gun at a friend, causing involuntary manslaughter)--you have to have a willing (not just reckless) disregard for the safety of others in order to do something like this. I have little sympathy for these defendants.

At thousands of feet the beam would be so wide that the power levels would not pose a real threat beyond the temporary glare effects.

It was enough of a threat to cause a burned retina in a Delta pilot in 2004.

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2004/sep/28/20040928-111356-3924r/

What a fool...
Indeed. Only two years?

I just cannot figure out who would possibly do such a thing? I mean really. What in the hell could you possibly be thinking?

It was enough of a threat to cause a burned retina in a Delta pilot in 2004.

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2004/sep/28/20040928-111356-3924r/

I doubt that was from a laser pointer. I'm guessing that was from some professional (laser light show, scientific, etc.) laser. A typical 5mW green laser pointer only presents a danger of temporary flashblindness when the user is within 260ft or so of the aircraft (source (http://www.pangolin.com/faa/images/diagram_laser-safety-distances_with_examples.gif)).

Some good info here (http://www.faa.gov/library/reports/medical/oamtechreports/2000s/media/0409.pdf), here (http://wildlife-mitigation.tc.faa.gov/public_html/Lasers_AC.pdf), and here (http://www.pangolin.com/resguide09c.htm).

I doubt that was from a laser pointer. I'm guessing that was from some professional (laser light show, scientific, etc.) laser. A typical 5mW green laser pointer only presents a danger of temporary flashblindness when the user is within 260ft or so of the aircraft (source (http://www.pangolin.com/faa/images/diagram_laser-safety-distances_with_examples.gif)).

Some good info here (http://www.faa.gov/library/reports/medical/oamtechreports/2000s/media/0409.pdf), here (http://wildlife-mitigation.tc.faa.gov/public_html/Lasers_AC.pdf), and here (http://www.pangolin.com/resguide09c.htm).

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091027/lasers_091027/20091027
http://www.ohscanada.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?aid=1000346445

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091027/lasers_091027/20091027
http://www.ohscanada.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?aid=1000346445

Exactly. The danger is primarily from the temporary loss of vision, much like when you have an oncoming car with a jerk driver who doesn't turn off his/her highbeams. Of course this is still a significant threat, especially during takeoff and (especially) landing, but far too many articles go overboard and imply that these incidents typically involve injury to the pilot.

The 2nd article (where someone was injured) discusses a much more powerful laser (used at an observatory) and a helicopter (slower, closer target).

The original article doesn't specify details, but I'll bet the pilots of the "two Boeing 7-series jets" :rolleyes: were not hurt. That's not to say that there was no danger, of course there was.

This is a real problem that needs to be addressed. I wonder how feasible it would be to equip cockpit windows with notch filters (http://www.laserfocusworld.com/display_article/212471/12/none/none/Feat/Rugate-notch-filters-find-use-in-laser-based-applications) for typical laser wavelengths (esp. 532nm).