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posted by Dopefish on Thursday March 13 2014, @09:50AM   Printer-friendly
from the lives-could-be-at-stake dept.

GungnirSniper writes "The US FBI has been working with the FAA and the Air Line Pilots Association to crack down on people pointing lasers at aircraft. "Reported incidents of laser attacks on aircraft in flight in the US have increased more than 1,000 percent since 2005, according to the FAA, from 283 up to 3,960 in 2013 an average of 11 incidents a day."

Per the Air Line Pilots Association, "reports of aircraft laser illuminations in the U.S. have increased sharply over the past few years-to 3,960 last year from 2,836 in 2010."

Sergio Patrick Rodriguez, 26, now has the dubious distinction of being sentenced to "14 years in federal prison, a term prosecutors believe to be among [California's] longest for such a crime." Rodriguez's gang membership and criminal record were likely factors in his sentence, as was using a laser that is called 13 times more powerful than most laser pointers.(Previous coverage of Rodriguez here.)"

Has anyone seen this happen or experienced it as a pilot or aircraft passenger?

Related Stories

Man Gets 14 Years For 'Lasing' a Helicopter 87 comments

Papas Fritas writes:

"Scott Smith reports at AP that 26-year-old Sergio Patrick Rodriguez has been convicted of pointing a green laser at a Fresno Police Department helicopter and sentenced to spend 14 years in federal prison. 'This is not a game. It is dangerous, and it is a felony,' says US Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner. 'Those who aim lasers at aircraft should know that we will seek to convict them, and we will seek to send them to prison. The safety of aircraft and the people in them demands no less.' According to evidence presented at trial, Rodriguez and his girlfriend, Jennifer Lorraine Coleman, 23, used a high-powered green laser pointer 13 times more powerful than common pointers to repeatedly strike the cockpit of Air 1 during a clear summer night in 2012. In imposing the sentence, Judge O'Neill considered not only the severity of the offenses but Rodriguez's criminal history, numerous probation violations, and Bulldog gang affiliation. An expert said that the laser pointer that Rodriguez used was an instrument capable of inflicting serious bodily injury and death due to a high potential for crash caused by visual interference. A jury found Rodriguez guilty of attempting to interfere with safe operation of aircraft and aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft. 'Lasing aircraft is not a joke or a casual prank,' says Special Agent in Charge Monica M. Miller of the FBI's Sacramento field office. 'Rodriguez's sentence clearly demonstrates the seriousness of his actions and that the FBI will work with its law enforcement partners to locate and arrest those who engage in dangerous, improper use of hand-held lasers that puts us all at risk.'

On February 11, 2014, in 12 cities, the FBI, in collaboration with the Air Line Pilots Association International and the FAA, announced the Laser Threat Awareness campaign, a nationwide effort to alert the public to the threat that aircraft laser illumination poses and the penalties for such activity. The FBI will offer up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of any individual who intentionally aims a laser at an aircraft. The program is being rolled out in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Houston and San Antonio, Texas; Los Angeles and Sacramento, California; Philadelphia; Phoenix, Arizona; Cleveland, Ohio; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; New York; and San Juan, Puerto Rico."

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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by lhsi on Thursday March 13 2014, @10:00AM

    by lhsi (711) on Thursday March 13 2014, @10:00AM (#15781) Journal

    Is there anything new here that wasn't covered by the last time the 14 years for using a laser pointer story was on the site? http://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=14/03/11/083 3222 [soylentnews.org]

    If so, why repeat the 14 year story bit in this summary?

    • (Score: 1) by jasassin on Thursday March 13 2014, @10:02AM

      by jasassin (3566) <jasassin@gmail.com> on Thursday March 13 2014, @10:02AM (#15782) Homepage Journal

      From what I can understand, the occurrences are becoming more frequent.

      --
      jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
      • (Score: 4, Funny) by crutchy on Thursday March 13 2014, @10:03AM

        by crutchy (179) on Thursday March 13 2014, @10:03AM (#15783) Homepage Journal

        laser pointers are the new bitcoin! /me stocks up on laser pointers

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 13 2014, @10:18AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 13 2014, @10:18AM (#15788)

        No, the reported incidents are becoming more frequent. As always happens when there is a crackdown on something.

        Just like when the police is doing a state wide traffic law campaign, the number of speeding tickets increase. That does not mean that people drive faster when the police is watching.

        • (Score: 5, Interesting) by hankwang on Thursday March 13 2014, @10:56AM

          by hankwang (100) on Thursday March 13 2014, @10:56AM (#15795) Homepage

          the reported incidents are becoming more frequent. As always happens when there is a crackdown on something.

          I don't think it's only because of an increase in reporting rate. Those lasers are getting more powerful/cheaper. I bought my first laser pointer (1 mW red 650 nm) in 1995 for the equivalent of EUR 45 (not corrected for inflation), which would only be mildly annoying if they hit your eye from a kilometer distance. (Low power, wavelength for which your eye is not very sensitive and it doesn't readily kill night vision)

          Now you can get those ones for EUR 2, green 5 mW ones for $15, and there are online shops selling 100 mW green laser "pointers" for $100. Even if they don't damage the eye given the low exposure time of a hand-held device aimed at a moving object, and because of the beam divergence, it sounds like they will kill night vision.

          Anyway, in Netherlands (or entire EU?) lasers above 1 mW (or rather, above class 2), are not allowed to be sold as laser pointers. It has been like that for the last 10 years or so. I don't recall having seen reports in the local media of "air traffic lasering".

          • (Score: 3, Insightful) by DIMT on Thursday March 13 2014, @12:20PM

            by DIMT (2043) on Thursday March 13 2014, @12:20PM (#15812)

            I believe it has more to do with the vast increase in laser pointer/plane stories in the news of late than the price. If you make the public aware something happens, it will happen more as people emulate what they have heard about.

          • (Score: 5, Informative) by bradley13 on Thursday March 13 2014, @12:29PM

            by bradley13 (3053) on Thursday March 13 2014, @12:29PM (#15820) Homepage Journal

            I also live in Europe, and yes, there are plenty of incidents [laserpointersafety.com]. Just not quite the same hysteria as gets kicked up by the US media, when a new topic crops up.

            It's easy to order the 100mw lasers from countries where they are unregulated. Customs cannot check every package, so most of them are delivered. Here in Switzerland, there have been a couple of recent cases of them being used against trains. Granted, your train doesn't crash as a result, but it's still dangerous if the train is coming up on a station, or crossing, or whatever.

            --
            Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 13 2014, @10:43AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 13 2014, @10:43AM (#15793)

      fish memory, eh

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 13 2014, @12:42PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 13 2014, @12:42PM (#15826)

    So, it looks like there is a gap in the market.
    Flying craft are being targeted by hand lasers. What is needed is a way to record the attack quickly and accurately and send the data to first responders to deal with the problem.

    Sounds like an opportunity for a canny coder

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by metamonkey on Thursday March 13 2014, @02:00PM

      by metamonkey (3174) on Thursday March 13 2014, @02:00PM (#15862)

      More like we need auto-turrets on planes. Quickly identify the source of the attack and bring shots on target.

      --
      Okay 3, 2, 1, let's jam.
      • (Score: 1) by tibman on Thursday March 13 2014, @05:44PM

        by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Thursday March 13 2014, @05:44PM (#16002)

        If the plane is under "attack" via laser then "attacking" back with another laser would an option. However it's a very bad option : / Can't be arming civilian planes with lasers. Even escalating the situation is a bad idea. Reporting to a ground unit who can drive over is perfect though. They can put auto-turrets on those ground vehicles.. i think everything would be legal then : )

        --
        SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
  • (Score: 5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 13 2014, @12:59PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 13 2014, @12:59PM (#15834)

    Reported incidents of laser attacks on aircraft in flight in the US have increased more than 1,000 percent since 2005

    Once you remove the jitter from the data and look at the larger, overall trend this is a GOOD thing. For example, the reported incidents of laser attacks on aircraft in flight increased over 1 billion percent in the late 1950s, now we're just down to 1,000 percent! Things are calming down now to a nice, constant stream of laser attacks.

  • (Score: 5, Funny) by dublet on Thursday March 13 2014, @01:01PM

    by dublet (2994) on Thursday March 13 2014, @01:01PM (#15835)

    .. or experienced it as a pilot or aircraft passenger?

    Not with my remaining eye, no..

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by kbahey on Thursday March 13 2014, @02:43PM

    by kbahey (1147) on Thursday March 13 2014, @02:43PM (#15890) Homepage

    And in Egypt, this [businessinsider.com] is how they do it ...

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Pslytely Psycho on Thursday March 13 2014, @05:13PM

      by Pslytely Psycho (1218) on Thursday March 13 2014, @05:13PM (#15989)

      It would be intertesting to see the cockpit video (assuming there is one)to see just how bad it is for the pilots. Being military I assume (ass+u+me I know)that the pilots are protected to some degree greater than a commercial pilot. But, it would be interesting to see what level of distraction the pilots had to endure.

      A large part of me thinks this 'laser issue' is perhaps a bit overblown. While no doubt it is a bad idea, especially during landing, takeoff or manoeuvring. I have wonder if the actual danger is a bit overstated.

      Guards frequently use them to signal trucks who have pulled away too early without having a seal inspection. It is distracting and startling, but, it's also only a few hundred feet away. Just how coherent is the light beam when it's 30,000 feet? Intuitively, I would think it would be very weak at that point, but, I truly have no idea. I'd hate to think I accidentally lased some poor pilot by flicking it upward while playing with my cat.....

      --
      Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
      • (Score: 3, Informative) by kbahey on Thursday March 13 2014, @05:20PM

        by kbahey (1147) on Thursday March 13 2014, @05:20PM (#15993) Homepage

        The military in Egypt, and all government for that matter, are the exact opposite of openness and transparency. They will only release something when it serves their propaganda.

        This laser thing has been ongoing before the Feb 2011 ouster of Mubarak, but was limited to soccer fans using it against the other team's players and the police in stadiums. It spilled on the streets for all to see during and after the revolution.

        Surprisingly, neither the military nor police publicly complained about it, nor prosecuted those who used it. Maybe it is because there are bigger problems such as deadly confrontations every now and then.

  • (Score: 0) by SoylentsISay on Friday March 14 2014, @06:13PM

    by SoylentsISay (1331) on Friday March 14 2014, @06:13PM (#16545)

    so, Soylent News is relying on reports from the Christian Science Monitor?

    Seriously people??