[Turbopilot]

If there was intent. It's not certain there was.

He hit the jet not once, not twice, but three times with the laser. Then, when the police flew the jet pilots over the area during their investigation, he hit the police helicopter!

There may not have been intent to cause any aircraft to crash, although if there was ever a case where "dumbass" should be a sentence enhancement this is it. But how could there not have been intent to shine the laser at aircraft?

[getsoutalive]

I have a high power green laser that we use for stargazing and antenna pointing. The beam is easily visible at night and is wonderful for pointing at stars. It is also capable of projecting for very long distances (we have done 15 mi.)

I don't know what his intention was and hitting aircraft 3 times tells me he is at the very least a complete moron, but there are several legitimate uses for these things and yes they are plenty powerful enough to hit airplanes at any altitude. Pointing problems not withstanding.