Banning the use of high-power lasers may not be a viable solution. If a helicopter is flying low enough, it can also cause glare. Currently, anyone can own any laser of any power. Murphy thinks the very coverage of the issue may be contributing to the sudden increase. Murphy says the word needs to get out that this sort of activity at the wrong moment can cause pilots to lose control, and cause hundreds of deaths. At some point hopefully society will say lasing aircraft is equally stupid, and hopefully we will come down on that.
The penalties are certainly angling to do just that. Catching a drone with a large aircraft can help the military reuse these flying robots—and perhaps even someday deploy swarms of them. Louis police transport responding to a burglary call; it had to divert when the laser pointer temporarily disoriented its occupants. While driving Mr. Mittens to exhaustion with a dot can be fun, the latter is a federal offense and quite possibly the lamest explanation you could ever give to another inmate.
On the ground, laser pointers appear to have a weak, diluted projection. But people tend to underestimate just how far the light can be thrown, or what happens to it once it settles on a passing airplane or helicopter. The FBI arranged for a video to demonstrate:. At distances of up to feet, it can engulf a cockpit. It remains a distraction hazard all the way up to 12, feet. Obviously, seeing laser beams and flashes is distracting to pilots. This is one reason you should never aim at or near an aircraft.
This makes it easy for a police helicopter to direct ground officers for an arrest, as described later on this page. Distracting or flashblinding pilots is dangerous Another problem is that the beam is much larger at long distances than you might think. Even though the laser projects a small, millimeter-sized dot close up, at longer distances the beam can be many inches across.
When the beam hits the windscreen of a cockpit, or the bubble of a helicopter, imperfections in and on the glass spread the light out even more:. The light often is spread so much that the pilot cannot avoid it:. At higher power levels, it can also cause temporary flashblindness and afterimages like when you look at a bright camera flash, and cannot see for a many seconds afterwards. Glare -- the pilot cannot see past the light as long as the laser is on the cockpit windscreen.
Flashblindness and afterimage -- the pilot cannot see until the afterimage has faded. More photos from this FAA test are here and here. To make things even worse, a pilot being targeted may also be worried about eye damage and eye injuries, and the possibility of the laser being an aiming device on a weapon. A worried pilot is a distracted pilot -- not a good thing during critical flight phases such as landings, takeoffs and emergency maneuvers.
For all these reasons -- and especially due to the distraction, glare and flashblindness effects -- you should NEVER point a laser towards an aircraft.
It is not even smart to aim directly at stars, since a slow-moving far-away aircraft could look like a star. Instead, if you are pointing out stars at night to others, circle the star as described on the Tips for outdoor use page. If you still do not believe that laser light is a hazard to pilots, please see the FAQ for doubters page. You may be arrested — or worse You may be arrested Laser users are frequently arrested for aiming at airplanes or helicopters.
0コメント