Fox: Commercial Pilots 'attacked' with laser

Fox News | Greta Van Susteren

[ableChair]

Greta Van Susteren reported that a Delta pilot enroute to Salt Lake City was lazed in the cockpit this last Wednesday. Only country I know that has that hardware (for lazing bomber pilots) was the Soviet Union. Pilot reportedly required medical treatment and this was not a minor injury (weak laser) wound. More will come out to tomorrow as this story hits the print press.

[ableChair]

How did you do that? I can't find how to post to the "Admin Moderator"...

[The KG9 Kid]

Construction site levelling lasers easily have that kind of power.

God knows how they hit the plane with one, though.

[steve86]

if official communications stray from the officially condoned "pure" French language.

At least they're trying to keep it French and not encouraging Spanish and Arabic (not so sure about the last one).

[Undivided Heart]

Damn, I was on Southwest going to SLC last Thursday afternoon!

[Gerasimov]

"Illuminate" particularly in a military sense, doesn't necessarily mean, "to cast visible light." If I paint someone with my IR targeting device, I've "illuminated" them; however, the IR illumination isn't visible with the naked eye. Likewise to "illuminating" someone with night vision or with a laser...

[hispanarepublicana]

You just type Admin Moderator in the "To:" box. Maybe I just know his address well from being admonished so many times and having to hang my head in shame as all the other FReepers pointed and laughed at me when the Admin Mod wasn't looking.
No, wait, that was church and my mom when I was a kid.....

[Kirkwood]

Don't believe everything you read. I am an ophthalmologist specializing in laser surgery. I am an industry expert on laser safety and teach courses on the subject. Laser weapons are impractical except under certain conditions.

[Squantos]

I know my laser flares are way more powerful than my laser pointer I use for briefings at work. The ones I linked to will pick up SOLAS grade reflector tape from a hell of a distance. I have the kind that goes on the back of a minimag flashlight and the stand alone that I had modified to fit on the butt of my surefire flashlights. They would have lit this planes cockpit up easy . Not real sure of the approach to Salt Lake but ya have Eagle Range, Dugway , Tooele Army Depot and Hill AFB in that region. Potential for a Spec Ops team practicing with laser designator on Eagle Range is high as that is normal day to day thang there.

Stay safe !

[lonevoice]

Thank you!

[Squantos]

I didn't say it would .......Stay safe !

[Weirdad]

Good point.

[abner]

I don't think anyone is doubting your knowledge. I'm not. I do know that something really bad happened to Daly's eyes that he is still having effects from. Maybe it is something altogether new.

[ableChair]

Hi, Could you please change the title of this post to:
Fox: Commercial Pilots 'attacked' with laser.

Thanks.

[lonevoice]

Laser weapons are impractical except under certain conditions.

Can you elaborate on those conditions, and how this pilot could have been injured? Thanks.

[Kirkwood]

Total nonsense. Laser pointers are a problem on planes because air marshals and flight crews can confuse them with pistol-mounted lasers.

[MissAmericanPie]

I didn't think a person could recover from a laser burned retina. This is bad, bad, news if it was a terrorist attack, unless there are special lenses a pilot can wear.

[Robe]

Actually , I have been in a aircraft that was "Lazed" !!
We were en route to Dallas on a route that took us Near Lawton OK, Which is near Ft Sill.
It was a very clear night and I was the flying pilot, we were at about 23+ thousand feet. The captain was doing some paperwork and I was enjoying the view.

At the corner of my eye I saw a intense red flash, it lit up the cockpit and got both of our attention. Since nether of use was looking directly at the emission source neither was harmed.
We assumed it was from some sort of range finding device that had been inadvertently pointed skyward.
We discussed it for a bit and continued the flight... we never reported anything....we figured it WAS a training base and mistakes were bound to happen.
It IS one of my most memorable moments in my flying career ,however

[abner]

Wow. I am astonished how common some kind of thing seems to be.

[Dan Evans]

A pilot inside a commercial jet doesn't even have a forward view during straight and level flight.

But he would see the ground during a landing approach.

[Redcloak]

IT'S LASER... WITH A FREAKIN' S!!!

Sorry... I had to get that out of my system.. It's an optical engineer thing.

Any visible laser can pose a hazard to a pilot; especially at night. The beam can light up the entire canopy and temporarily blind the pilot. Thus it is illegal under Federal law to illuminate any vehicle with a visible laser (Or a non-eye-safe IR laser.) without the permission of the driver or pilot.