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.

[Senator Pardek]

One word: espresso.

[elhombrelibre]

Can you elaborate a bit?

[bitt]

what are you saying - that the pilot was hit with a lazer beam?

[WorkingClassFilth]

This is weapons sighting stuff, right?

[AdamSelene235]

Only country I know that has that hardware (for lazing bomber pilots) was the Soviet Union.

Nyet.

You can buy necessary equipment on Ebay for a couple hundred bucks.

[spyone]

Soviet freighter did this to a pilot(commercial) over Puget Sound between USA and Canada a couple of years ago.

[Vision]

What does lazed mean?

[ableChair]

That's all I heard so far. Some journalist with the print media is writing a story on it in tomorrow's release. Basically, the cockpit was 'attacked' with a laser, wounding a crewmember there. That's all I know.

[Titan Magroyne]

To elaborate, that means he was injured when a laser was aimed at his eyes, right?

[Snickersnee]

No, it was a P-3 pilot --

[TBarnett34]

First they stuned my beeber, now they lazed it! The horror!

[xm177e2]

Wasn't this (blinding pilots in a cockpit with a laser beam) in a Clancy novel?

[abner]

To elaborate, that means he was injured when a laser was aimed at his eyes, right?

Yes.

[pgkdan]

What in the world are you talking about?

[ableChair]

This could be for everyone:
This would not be a conventional laser. This would have to be a high-powered laser as it would be fired from a great distance, through lots of atmosphere and glass. The USSR used this idea as a way of blinding pilots in wartime and developed powerful lasers for this purpose. It doesn't burn skin, but it's enough to damage your eyes. The crewmember is being treated for an eye injury.

[bcoffey]

"To elaborate, that means he was injured when a laser was aimed at his eyes, right?"

Exactly. During the cold war, laser weapons were designed to ruin the optics in weapon systems and the lens in the human eye. If the pilot couldn't see, he'd crash.

[Mo1]

for a later read

[abner]

The Soviets did this during the Clinton years and Clinton just ignored it. Serious stuff.

[smith288]