Laser pointers in the news

[seamusTX]

Long story short: Unemployed rocket scientists with too much time on their hands are aiming laser pointers at aircraft. In some cases these incidents have temporarily blinded pilots. So far no crashes have been blamed on laser pointers.

The news buzz apparently results from an FAA announcement last week: http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/ ... wsId=12298" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Current news here

Now that Congress has solved every other national problem, I expect to see calls for NICS checks and registration of laser pointers.



- Jim

[USA1]

Unemployed rocket scientists with too much time on their hands

Great description.

[Commander Cody]

Just curiosity… What type of laser pointing device would be powerful enough to cause this type of a problem? Surely not the ones on my guns. Of course I wouldn’t point a gun at an airplane anyway.

[seamusTX]

According to the press release, green laser pointers have increased the severity of the problem. Supposedly they are more powerful and have more of an effect on human eyes than the red lasers that we use to amuse our cats. These things cost less than $10 and are readily available.

You can search eBay or whatever for 200 mW green lasers. These are the higher-powered devices that apparently are not available on the open market in the U.S. now. (I had not looked into this earlier.)

- Jim

[OldCurlyWolf]

IIRC, under certain circumstances, doing so can be a felony.
It sure is dangerous if the laser is strong enough.
If I was in a plane where that happened, I would take great pleasure in giving the perpetrator a swift kick in a very painful place.

[speedsix]

...there you have it, OCW!!! Back in the day, we were blessed with the "new" Qbeam spotlights that were a million CP...had idiots out by the local airport on the approach lighting up the planes...3 years oughta slow 'em down a little...and probably half of them don't even know enough about the laser to realize the hazard...

[Fangs]

The lasers are typically used by stargazers.

Huh?

[Rex B]

The green lasers are generally the same wattage as the red, but green is so much more visible to our eyes that it looks 10 times brighter.
Amateur astronomers use them to point out celestial objects, because the beam looks like a green rod reaching out as far as you can see, so you can "point" to objects and show someone where to look. You may have seen some demos set up in the past, where you can see the actual beam. The hand-held ones look like a lightsaber with infinite length.
Green lasers are pretty cool, but you do have to be more careful. Just the reflection can be blinding. In fact, I read where many of the higher-power green lasers also put out a very strong wavelength in the invisible spectrum - several times as strong as what you see. You might think you are putting out low levels, when in fact you could be damaging your eyesight irreversibly without knowing it.

[Keith B]

You might think you are putting out low levels, when in fact you could be damaging your eyesight irreversibly without knowing it.

Hence a new and valid reason for Mothers to be telling their kids "No you can't have one! 'You'll shoot your eye out!"

Seriously, this is a real big issue. I have seen the green lasers sold at flea markets and electronic swap meets. As stated, they have a very bright beam and can reach extreme distances. Even a cheap 5mw laser on eBay that sells for under $10 including shipping has an effective range of over 2 miles on the ground. Many planes approach the airports at less than 4000 - 5000 feet even at 20 miles out, so the range is more than adequate to 'light up' an aircraft.

[The Annoyed Man]

According to the press release, green laser pointers have increased the severity of the problem. Supposedly they are more powerful and have more of an effect on human eyes than the red lasers that we use to amuse our cats. These things cost less than $10 and are readily available.

You can search eBay or whatever for 200 mW green lasers. These are the higher-powered devices that apparently are not available on the open market in the U.S. now. (I had not looked into this earlier.)

- Jim

My new M&P15-22 came equipped with a green laser pointer mounted that has a bright green dot clearly visible at 100 yards in broad daylight, nearly as bright as it is up close indoors. I would not want it shined in my eyes. Brand new, it cost the original owner $99.00, so it's not like they are hugely expensive. I imagine that it would not be that hard to blind a pilot on landing or takeoff with it. Of course I would never do that. That's just dumb.

[Ameer]

You can search eBay or whatever for 200 mW green lasers. These are the higher-powered devices that apparently are not available on the open market in the U.S. now. (I had not looked into this earlier.)

The feds banned imports of laser pointers over 5mW. It works about as well as Bush's assault rifle import ban.

I hear one of the problems with green lasers is they're often IR converted to green. So a 5mW green could be 25mW of IR if they don't have a good IR filter, and IR isn't visible so it doesn't cause a blink reflex but does burn the eye.

[Ameer]

My new M&P15-22 came equipped with a green laser pointer mounted that has a bright green dot clearly visible at 100 yards in broad daylight, nearly as bright as it is up close indoors. I would not want it shined in my eyes. Brand new, it cost the original owner $99.00, so it's not like they are hugely expensive. I imagine that it would not be that hard to blind a pilot on landing or takeoff with it. Of course I would never do that. That's just dumb.

How fast do commercial jets fly? 500mph? How big is an eyeball? An inch?

I think it would be easier to hit a flying dove with a 22 than hit a one inch eyeball moving at hundreds of miles of hour.

[seamusTX]

Commercial jets fly under 200 MPH when they are on approach for landing. I'm sure a pilot can give the exact numbers.

Furthermore, when you know the trajectory, you can get into a position where the target is barely moving from your point of view.

Laser beams dissipate with distance, especially with condensing moisture in the atmosphere.

Combine those factors and it is not difficult to "light up" the cockpit of a landing aircraft.

Either that, or thousands of pilots are lying for no good reason.

- Jim

[zero4o3]

http://www.fastcompany.com/1662279/lase ... e-airports" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

dont know if anyone has seen these yet, but you can buy hand held lasers powerfull enough to burn skin. if you do some youtube seraches you should be able to find some video of people lighting matches with them, popping ballons and what not. I have also came accros a few guides on how to make high powered lasers with the laser from a bluray drive.

[Keith B]

My new M&P15-22 came equipped with a green laser pointer mounted that has a bright green dot clearly visible at 100 yards in broad daylight, nearly as bright as it is up close indoors. I would not want it shined in my eyes. Brand new, it cost the original owner $99.00, so it's not like they are hugely expensive. I imagine that it would not be that hard to blind a pilot on landing or takeoff with it. Of course I would never do that. That's just dumb.

How fast do commercial jets fly? 500mph? How big is an eyeball? An inch?

I think it would be easier to hit a flying dove with a 22 than hit a one inch eyeball moving at hundreds of miles of hour.

On approach most modern passenger jets (MD 80, Airbus A300, or similar size) are about 180 knots (207 MPH) nominal approach speed fully loaded.

Most of these events reported are within the vicinity of airports and on approach. And, the angle they are being lit up at is not from the side, but from the front within about 60 degrees of center line. Think about sitting at the airport off the end of the runway in the observation area and how easy it is to see the plane coming at you and look into the nose of the plane, even if off at an slight angle. Not too hard to sweep the pointer around and cross the path of something coming at you. Also, a laser beam may be narrow at the pointer, but you put it out to 1.5 - 2 miles, and the beam has spread out quite a bit. So while it may be a 10th of an inch or less at your end, when it gets that far out it may be 6-8 inches or more in diameter. So, not hard to light something up with that.