US warns China after lasers injure American pilots in Africa
The United States has issued a formal warning to China after personnel at the Asian country's military base in Djibouti used lasers to interfere with U.S. military aircraft, minorly injuring two pilots, according to the Pentagon.
Top Defense Department spokeswoman Dana White told reporters Thursday that the U.S. is confident the Chinese are behind the "very serious incidents," which have increased in the past few weeks.
"There have been two minor injuries. This activity poses a true threat to our airmen. We have formally demarched the Chinese government. And we've requested that that Chinese investigate these incidents," White said during a Pentagon briefing.
The U.S. government, meanwhile, has warned airmen to be cautious when flying in certain areas in Djibouti, in Africa, due to the recent incidents.
Also at CNN.
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(Score: 2) by edIII on Friday May 04 2018, @07:33PM (1 child)
Except it's not prank level. You have a craft that weighs anywhere from 200,000 to 900,000 lbs. moving at great speed. Take moving vehicles and take the danger up an order of magnitude at least.
The reality is that these pranksters are putting a lot of people in great danger when they disrupt pilots trying to keep the plane in the air.
There is a time and place for pranks, and pilots actively piloting large craft are simply not one of them.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 05 2018, @08:21AM
Ok, now if you're talking about take-off and landing, maybe..rest of the time? Altitude and Autopilot.
It's more a worry when they target light aircraft, especially those flight school Cessnas flown by inexperienced pilots at lower altitudes over residential areas (where there's a statistically greater chance of coming to the attentions of a nutter with a green laser pointer) there's more chance of a fatal loss of control happening there, still, AFAIK, this hasn't happened out there yet.
Mines is the right retina with scarring caused by walking into the beam of an IR laser diverted down an open lab sans any visible guide beam by a fucking idiot who I really must catch up with some day...in a dark alley...to thank properly..