Search For Laser Pointed At Commercial Jets

KTVU ^ | 12/13/06

[LibWhacker]

SAN JOSE -- A raid staged at a San Jose home was the latest attempt by Santa Clara and federal authorities to find the source of a blinding laser beam that is being flashed into the cockpits of commercial aircrafts trying to land in the Bay Area.

Serge Palanov, a spokesman from the Santa Clara Sheriff's Department, said deputies searched a home near Cambrian Village -- about seven miles south of San Jose's Mineta International Airport -- on Monday.

The search did not find any evidence of the laser.

"We received several calls from the FAA and also from some citizens stating that there was a green laser emanating from a residence pointing at some commercial airliners," Palanov said. "Our own helicopter -- Star One -- went up in the air into vicinity and they also experienced this green laser pointing at them."

Lasers -- small lasers commercially available and used commonly as light pointers -- can beam a high intensity light over a long distances. If the beam were to strike a pilot's eyes, it could blind him or her.

San Francisco International Airport spokesman Mike McCarron -- a former Navy airman -- said lasers -- even small seemingly harmless ones -- can be threatening to the safety of the airplane and its passengers.

"It can temporarily blind you for that split second and then it takes you another 20- 30 minutes for your eyes to readjust fully to see outside that cockpit again," McCarron said. "Because what you want the pilots to do is to be able to see outside the cockpit -- see other aircraft …see obstacles... obstructions lights... the flashing red lights on radio towers and stuff like that…It can be very critical on the most critical part of the flight."

A recently released FAA analysis shows that nationwide in a three month period ending in January of last year, lasers were aimed at aircraft 84 times -- almost once a day -- and half of those were aimed at airliners.

Palanov said South Bay authorities will be extra vigilant over the next several weeks in an attempt to find the source of the laser.

"This could be punished as a felony with state prison time," he said. "This is a very serious offense."

[PeterFinn]

The thing about lasers is that they can appear to be emanating from a nearby source when in fact they may be emanating from miles away.

[DBrow]

Not this stuff again! Some people are just not responsible. Fedgov is going to step in and take our lasers away if this keeps up!

And in anticipation of how Laser-Airplane threads go, yes a handheld green laser pointer can cause flash-blindness over a considerable range, at least three miles.

No, the laser beam does not stay skinny (less than a mm) over that distance, it spreads to at least 12 feet at two miles depending on the initial beam size.

[river rat]

I live within 10 minutes of Cambrian Village..
Identify the bastard and I will welcome him/her to the neighborhood.

Semper Fi

[Revelation 911]

check the sharks at Dr. Evils lair

[river rat]

""This could be punished as a felony with state prison time," he said. "This is a very serious offense."

Why the hell isn't the charge "Attempted Murder" against 200+ passengers and crew?

What other motive could the asshole have?

We have become far too tolerant and supportive of murderous assholes -- and that is precisely why we have so many.

Cockroaches and rats have their equivalent in human society...
They too should be exterminated. Their survival is not worth the risk to our families and loved ones.

Semper Fi

[babygene]

"Lasers -- small lasers commercially available and used commonly as light pointers -- can beam a high intensity light over a long distances. If the beam were to strike a pilot's eyes, it could blind him or her."

I've worked with lasers for the last 25 years, and this is total B.S..

Where is is true that a laser pointer could temporarily render a person blind in one eye if the beam were trained on that eye, it would be impossible even a couple hundred yards away.

There are a couple of reasons for this:

First; If the <5mw beam were expanded to the point that it could physically hit both eyes, the power density would be so low it wouldn't any worse than somebody flashing their break lights in front of you, and not near as bright as a flashbulb on a cheap camera.

Second; If you've ever tried to point a laser pointer (or a gun sight) at an object the size of a stop sign at even a couple hundred feet, you would have found it very difficult without a tripod. Keep it in mind that stop signs are not moving at 400 miles per hour.

It would take some very sophisticated equipment to make this possible.

[ElkGroveDan]

When I was about 14 a friend of the family had me and another guy clean out his garage telling us we could keep whatever we liked. We found this HUGE 60s-era movie spotlight. It could light up an entire block. I let my buddy have it and one night he pointed it at a police helicopter. His house was surrounded in about 5 minutes. He never tried that again.

[xjcsa]

I also notice that it's described as a green laser; every laser pointer I've ever seen has been red. Any idea if that means anything as far as the nature of the equipment?

[babygene]

The reason these things are not used by our enemies in Iraq is because they are useless.

[ibbryn]

The green laser's are high powered. Astronomy buffs use them to point out stars as the beam is visible for quite a distance.
Soldiers use them to point out targets for the same reason.
I belive they can also pop ballons with their heat and do some other damage. I wouldn't want one pointing in my eye.

[babygene]

"Any idea if that means anything as far as the nature of the equipment?"

The eye is more sensitive to green than red and seems brighter even at the same power level, however it's the power density that counts.

The most dangerous small lasers are infrared. They are available cheap and are thousands of times more powerful. Instead of 5/1000th of a watt in a laser pointer, you can buy a 20 watt IR for about $100. It has the added advantage of being invisible to the eye, so it does not trigger a blink reflex.

Anyone who knew enough about lasers to be a danger would not use a visible light laser.

[bondjamesbond]

You have to be a real serious idiot to be doing this sort of thing.

[Prince Caspian]

If the beam were to strike a pilot's eyes, it could blind him or her.

Melodramatic - not to mention wrong.

"Because what you want the pilots to do is to be able to see outside the cockpit..."

It's hard to imagine a more sophomoric comment.

[GovernmentShrinker]

I think the one's they're talking about are a lot more powerful than the little red ones commonly used in presentations and on gun grips, which are no more than 5mw. There was a case like this a few years ago and it turned out to be some idiot adult man who just thought it was fun to try to land his laser beam on planes and was apparently clueless about the implications. As I recall, that was also a green beam. Here's a site selling 120mw green lasers: http://www.megalaser.com/

[CharlesWayneCT]

How hard is it to aim a laser to hit a moving airplane cockpit two miles away?

Any chance you could TELL that your laser was hitting the cockpit, without some sort of binoculars?

[Prince Caspian]

Some things seem like a fun idea at the time...

[babygene]

"I belive they can also pop ballons with their heat and do some other damage."

Although higher power lasers are available in green, blue or red (at a high price), green laser pointers won't pop a soap bubble much less a balloon.

[CharlesWayneCT]

I also wondered, if you are sitting in the cockpit of an airplane at 10,000 feet or so, can you actually see the GROUND out of your window directly below you, or even a half-mile away from you? Or is this happening when the plane is on final approach and only a few hundred feet up?

[taxcontrol]

I think they are talking about class 3b green lasers which 1) are far more powerful and 2) have a much more coherent beam