shine it into his eyes for a couple minutes and see if it works
Posted on 10/28/2020 6:50:27 PM PDT by ransomnote
GREAT FALLS – A Missoula man today admitted he aimed a laser beam at an airplane as it was approaching the Great Falls airport, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.
Brian John Loven, 42, pleaded guilty to aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft. Loven faces a maximum five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided. Chief Judge Morris set sentencing for Feb. 25, 2021. Loven was released.
The prosecution said in court documents that at about 9:40 p.m. on March 3, two pilots operating a SkyWest flight reported that on their descent to the Great Falls airport, the plane was hit with a bright green laser that lit up the cockpit. The pilots reported that the incident occurred on the east end of town in the area of Giant Springs State Park.
Cascade County Sheriff’s deputies dispatched to the area located a Jeep driving slowly through the parking lot of Heritage Park, which was closed at the time. Loven was a passenger. The driver told deputies that she was learning how to drive a manual transmission car. While speaking with the driver, deputies noticed a small, black pen-like device sticking out of the center cup holder and asked about the item. The driver retrieved the device, said it was a laser pointer and activated it. The laser pointer projected a green light onto the dashboard.
Deputies interviewed Loven, who admitted to shining the laser at an airplane while it was approaching the airport. Loven explained that he was unaware it was a federal offense to shine a laser at a plane and just wanted to “test out the distance of the laser.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Starnes is prosecuting the case, which was investigated by the Transportation Security Administration, Cascade County Sheriff’s Office and Airport Security.
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Great Falls, Montana I assume?
Sounds similar to the defense all the guys charged with shining lasers at law enforcement in Portland and elsewhere use. Will it work?
It must be because Missoula is in Montana. 8>)
No big deal.....snipers do that all the time to test the distance of their “scopes”....../s
This is a huge problem pilots are having to deal with. We get at least 4 or 5 laser event a week. It hits the aircraft window and basically make them impossible to see out of. It can also cause severe injuries the the pilot.
shine it into his eyes for a couple minutes and see if it works
We let actual murderers and rapists out of prison for fear they catch covid...
I understand the laser pointer issue at eyes, but my god the iniquity in sentencing seriousness here is not correct.
The laser pointing could have killed 50+ people and destroyed a very expensive plane.
I'm an airline pilot. I've been lased by these thugs before while on final approach in Paris. Fortunately neither of us were looking at it at the time, the cockpit lit up green and I immediately closed my eyes. If you look straight at it then it usually means permanent eye damage, partial blindness, and losing your medical certificate which means you can't fly any more. Great, I get to lose my job and future because some piece of garbage thinks it's funny to shine his ebay laser at passing airplanes.
I agree there's inequity in the sentencing, it should be a summary execution.
but it did not
and actual people who actually did murder people get out because of covid
its frigging insane
Maybe those other people shouldn’t be let out and I don’t agree with summary execution, but up to 5 years isn’t that severe for pointing a laser at a plane.
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