WASHINGTON - Phoenix pilots have reported the second-highest number of "laser strikes" in the nation so far in 2011, a year after being tied for third.
Laser strikes - when someone shines a laser beam into a plane's cockpit - have been reported 49 times since January at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration reported this week.
That trailed only Dallas-Fort Worth, which has 51 reported strikes this year.
Last year, Phoenix's 80 laser incidents tied with Mineta San Jose International Airport for third-most in the nation. Los Angeles International Airport had the most incidents at 102, followed by Chicago O'Hare's 98.
Laser strikes are a real concern to pilots, who say pointing a laser at an aircraft can seriously impair a pilot's vision and interfere with the flight crew's ability to do its job.
"People think it's funny - they don't realize how bright the laser really is," said Ryan Brown, the assistant chief instructor at Transpac Aviation Academy in Deer Valley. "I don't think they really realize the implications."
Brown knows what he's talking about: He said that he got a glancing laser strike while flying several years ago, but was lucky enough not to be disoriented or left with serious injuries. A fellow pilot instructor suffered retinal damage from a strike while teaching, which temporarily prevented him from flying or teaching.
Because of the amount of air traffic into Sky Harbor and its location amid heavily populated cities like Mesa and Tempe, laser strike incidents are more likely, Brown said.
Tucson International Airport reported 37 laser-strike incidents in 2010, according to the FAA.
The number of laser strikes has skyrocketed since 2005, when the FAA began tracking reports of laser strikes. There were 300 incidents in 2005 nationwide, rising to 2,836 in 2010.
The FAA has already recorded more than 1,100 incidents this year.
Agency officials announced this week that they would begin charging cases of laser strikes under a law that has been used to prevent interference with flight crews. Under that law, the FAA can levy fines of up to $11,000 per incident.
Congress is also considering a bill, the Securing Aircraft Cockpits Against Lasers Act of 2011, that would make laser strikes a felony for reckless endangerment.
Roger Moore, a program pilot for Honeywell's Aerospace Division in the Deer Valley area, has 37 years of flight experience, both commercial and military. He calls the FAA regulation a step in the right direction.
"If the consequences are significant, they might think twice before shining a laser in the sky," Moore said.
Slabside posted at 11:00 am on Sun, Jun 5, 2011.
It really has to make you wonder just what is wrong with some people. [sad]
AZMomma posted at 1:42 pm on Sun, Jun 5, 2011.
This is a form of terrorism, and attempted murder charges should be filed when a perp is caught.
No excuses, no "kids will be kids". Commercial planes carry a couple hundred passengers. A plane being brought down or endangered is a crime.
Dale Whiting posted at 7:06 am on Mon, Jun 6, 2011.
For those of you who are interested, you might like to know that such problems occure in Chandler, too!
Arizona Twice makes the FAA Top Twenty List
Last year two Arizona Commercial Airports had the dubious distinction of making it onto a list of Top Twenty Airports in the nation for the illegal use of ground based green lasers aimed at aircraft. In 2010 2,836 such incidents of shining laser light at aircraft, all potentially blinding the eyes of its pilots, occurred nationwide, 80 at Sky Harbor [the third most], and 37 at Tucson International [in twelfth position]. A laser incident occurred near a Chandler field shortly before year’s end.
The frequency of such incidents has increased dramatically. Hand held green lasers are a popular internet sales item. And where playing laser tag with defenseless airplanes may seem innocuous, Federal Law prohibits such games as do an increasing number of state and local laws, none of which are publically well known. Two gamers are now serving time, one in prison for 30 months, the other a 24 month probation. And civil fines of up to $25,000 per incident may be assessed.
Near airfields, zones restricting the outdoor use of lasers extend 10 nautical miles beyond the end of a runway [about 11.5 statue miles]. And within 5 nautical miles of a runway [5.13 statutory miles] the outdoor use of any laser equipment is prohibited. In Chandler, the laser used was just over one half mile away. And unfortunately, debilitating eye damage was sustained.
Jan. 19, 2011 1:55 PM ET
FAA: Laser incidents soar, threaten planes
, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 100 incidents occurred at Los Angeles International Airport last year in which the safety of planes was put at risk by people pointing at them with lasers, and nearly as many incidents at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, federal officials said Wednesday.
Overall, the number of incidents nationally in which people pointed lasers at planes and helicopters nearly doubled last year, from 1,527 incidents in 2009 to 2,836 incidents in 2010, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Many of the incidents involve airliners that were in the midst of takeoffs or landings, critical phases of flight when pilots need to be at their most alert. Pointing lasers at cockpits can temporarily blind pilots or even permanently damage their eyesight. In some instances, pilots have had to relinquish control of their aircraft to another pilot.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called the laser incidents "an unacceptable risk to passenger safety."
FAA began keeping track of the incidents about five years ago, as Internet sales of new, more powerful handheld lasers began to increase. There were about 300 incidents reported in 2005.
The lasers are many times more powerful than the laser pointers typically used by lecturers. Stargazers use them at night to point to celestial objects. The introduction of green lasers, which are more powerful and more easily seen than red lasers, has also fueled sales.
FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt urged pilots to immediately report laser incidents to air traffic controllers, who can then report the incidents to police. It's a violation of federal law to shine a laser at an aircraft. Some cities and states also have laws making it illegal to shine lasers at aircraft.
In 2009, an Orange, Calif., man was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for aiming a laser at two Boeing jets as the passenger planes were about to land at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif. A Parsippany, N.J., man received two years' probation in 2006 after admitting to shining a laser at a plane approaching Teterboro Airport that temporarily blinded the two pilots.
There 108 incidents at the Los Angeles airport last year, more than any other airport, FAA said. O'Hare was next, with 98, followed by airports in Phoenix and San Jose, Calif., both with 80; Las Vegas, 72; Philadelphia, 66; Oakland, Calif., 55; Honolulu, 47; San Francisco, 39; Denver and Newark, N.J., both 38; Tucson, Ariz., 37; Miami and Salt Lake City, both 36; Portland, Ore., and Ontario, Calif., both 32; Burbank, Calif., Orange County, Calif., and Baltimore, each 31, and Seattle, 26.
Associated Press
ChillbertAZ posted at 2:45 pm on Mon, Jun 6, 2011.
Did you ever think that it may be because there are sooo many airplanes spraying Barium, Aluminum, Sulver Oxide, and Nano Particulates into the atmosphere over the valley all the time, that this may be why these kids are doing this? The planes I'm referring to are not flying in and out of Sky Harbor, they come mostly from Evergreen Air Field, and they are not passenger planes, but these kids probably don't know the difference. Maybe you should touch on that subject a little... it would be nice.
If anyone is not clear on what I am talking about, I have millions of pictures of what they have done to the skies over Gilbert...chillbertAZ@gmail.com