Whew...that's a relief...
Posted on 12/31/2004 6:44:09 PM PST by blam
Terrorist fears over laser attacks on seven planes
By Tom Leonard in New York
(Filed: 01/01/2005)
The FBI is investigating reports that laser beams have been directed into the cockpits of seven aircraft flying over America since Christmas, amid fears that terrorists could use them to blind or disorientate pilots.
Crews have reported two incidents in Colorado Springs and one each in Cleveland, Washington, Houston, Teterboro, New Jersey, and Medford, Oregon. All the planes landed safely.
Pilots are not convinced by reports that federal investigators have found no evidence of terrorist involvement.
"It's not some kid, it's too organised," said Paul Rancatore, the deputy chairman of the security committee for the Allied Pilots Association. Loren Thompson, who teaches military technology at Georgetown University in Washington DC, said: "What we're talking about is a fairly powerful visible light laser that has the ability to lock on to a fast-moving aircraft.
"That's not the sort of thing you pick up at a military surplus store," he added. "It sounds like an organised effort to cause airline accidents."
Pilots and safety officials have been concerned for some time about the dangers of laser light shows, which have caused temporary eye injuries to several pilots in the past decade.
A recent study commissioned by the Federal Aviation Administration concluded that "a laser attack could be quickly deployed and withdrawn, leaving no obvious collateral damage or projectile residue, and would be difficult to detect and defend against".
there is cause for real concern on this one
For the record, I just don't believe this story at all. It might have happend once - maybe - to the first one that reported it. After that, everybody was just all freaked out and every time the pilots caught a bit of light out of the corner of their eye they assumed it was a laser.
Whew...that's a relief...
re russians lasering US pilot:
http://www.judicialwatch.org/printer_2588.shtml
Might it be "sighting in"
This whole thing is overblown. No one had a tracking device. Back in college I had a laser pointer mounted to a pair of binoculars. I could have easily tracked an airplane with those. People overestimate the technology needed to perform a simple task.
Yup, I know about that.
Can't they install some type of light filter in the cockpits?
Just like people tend to overestimate the power of their laser pointers.
These attacks have taken place at altitude - not on approach - so please explain where you'd find some innocent person with a visible laser with enough power to cause temporary blindness at 30-40,000' (and be shining the laser downwards)? The only lasers that exist with enough power but are still visible are generally targeting lasers - once again not exactly innocent use.
Commercial pilots are NOT exactly easily excited. (Any multi-engine rated IFR pilot is difficult to shake.) To suggest this is some form of mass hysteria is ridiculous, and an insult to professional pilots from someone who obviously doesn't have a pilot's license.
Yes, cockpit crewmembers could wear eye protection specifically for lasers.
Seven incidents since X-Mas is significant, and points to rehearsals. I wonder what nations have launched satellites recently with on board lasers.
It's interesting. The terrorists obviously read Tom Clancy. The planes as flying bombs and the lasers into the cockpit are both plot lines out of Clancy novels.
How do you know they're shining downward...that's not in the article?
And, apparently we only know about their successes, huh?
Debt Of Honor, what is the other?
Actually, both scenarios come from that book. Besides the JAL pilot suiciding into the Capitol Building at the end of the book, the two CIA agents use a powerful strobe light (I don't think it was a laser) to blind the flight crews of Japanese Air Defense Force AWACS during landings/takeoffs, thereby causing them to crash. They also the light weapon in the beginning of the book to help kill a Clancy equivalent of Somalia's Aidid.
Both are from Debt of Honor. Special Forces infiltrate Japan and bring down one of their 747's with a radar dome by shining a laser into the eyes of the pilots when it is landing.
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Laser Eye Protection |
The Personnel Protection Team conducts exploratory and advanced research to understand the interactions between optical radiation and protective materials and develops and transitions technologies that provide protection against optical radiation devices and weapons. The team:
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| Precision strike capabilities used by the Department of Defense (DoD) to minimize collateral damage are based on laser technology. The use of lasers for smart bombs, target illumination, ranging and designation, and secure communications is extensive and expanding. New applications for lasers in military operations and law enforcement are emerging. These low-power lasers can easily damage the eye or disrupt vision. Laser damage to the retina is permanent and cannot be treated. | |
| Outdoor laser light shows are creating flight hazards for commercial, law enforcement and military aircrews. These light show lasers are invading navigable airspace around airports, business districts and military installations. Lasers can temporarily blind pilots during critical phases of flight and jeopardize safety. | |
| Department of Defense research drives the development of Laser Eye Protection (LEP) technology, and has done so since the mid-1970s. The research sprang from the need to protect aircrew and ground personnel during training, and most commercially-available LEP resulted from this DoD - sponsored research. Department of Defense researchers still lead the way as they develop new technologies to provide adequate laser eye protection while meeting unique military requirements. Unlike LEP used in industry and medicine, military laser eye protection must be able to withstand shrapnel impact, ejection windblasts, environmental stresses (extreme temperatures, solar radiation) and scratching caused by operational use. These requirements, along with visual transmission properties, dictate the types of technologies that can be used for military laser eye protection. If the protection diminishes vision or impedes job performance in any way it won’t be worn, regardless of the safety hazards being faced. | |
| The Optical Radiation Branch leads the Department of Defense and private industry in understanding how LEP technologies and their physical specifications relate to visual performance and user acceptance. One unique aspect of our program is that human performance data derived from the laboratory, simulator use, and ground and flight tests drives laser eye protection specifications. |  |
| The Veterans Affairs Medical Center is collaborating with us in developing a computer model to predict how LEP specifications affect aircraft lighting visibility (avionics) and color discrimination. Recently, we transitioned a dye-based technology to the field that protects fighter pilots flying night operations (with or without night vision goggles) against near infrared (invisible) and visible (deep red) lasers. These visors were also preferred by the pilots over their current visors for sun protection and contrast enhancement. | |
| Optical Radiation Branch scientists and engineers are currently working to improve the transmission characteristics of laser-absorbing dyes, evaluate reflective (dielectric stack, holographic mirrors, and rugate filters) and hybrid technologies, and enhance LEP scratch resistance for polycarbonate hard- coating technologies. | |
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For further information on this program, contact Air Force Research Laboratory, Human Effectiveness Directorate, Directed Energy Division, Optical Radiation Branch, (AFRL/HEDO), Brooks AFB Texas, at : laser.safety@brooks.af.mil . |
| Last Modified: 21 May 2002 |
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Why? Do you have any idea how strong of a laser and how accurate of a tracking system would be needed to accomplish this? And why would anyone go through all of that trouble and spend the millions it would take to build a whole bunch of them for them to then not do anything? Ya know, it's ok to use logic sometimes rather than to post out of emotionalism.
Does anyone know how long laser blindness lasts? In this article it reads it can be permeanent and untreatable, and then mentions temporary blindness.
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