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In yet another laser beam incident, crew on a flight carrying Pope Francis reported a laser beam sighting to air traffic control in Mexico City:
Alitalia flight AZ4000 was travelling from Havana with the Pope on board, and was preparing to land when the laser was spotted.
No crew or passengers were injured by the beam, the airline added.[...] "This is yet another incident that shows how serious and widespread the issue of laser attacks on aircraft is," said Jim McAuslan, General Secretary of the British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa), in response to the case involving the Pope's plane. "Modern lasers have the power to blind and the potential to dazzle and distract pilots during critical phases of flight," he told the BBC. "Shining a laser at an aircraft is illegal and dangerous and puts all those on board and on the ground nearby at completely unnecessary risk."
Aboard the plane headed from Rome to Mexico, the Pope said that contraception may be the "lesser evil" for women at risk of catching the Zika virus. In comments made on the ground, he chastised Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump for his plan to build a wall on the Mexican border.
In another story from the UK laser crime beat, Englishman Philip Houghton has been sentenced to 20 weeks in prison for admitting to shining a laser pen at a Humberside Police helicopter that was investigating a shooting.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 19 2016, @01:15PM
Seriously, how did they "spot" this laser while they were preparing to land?
And given that it isn't exactly easy to keep a beam aimed at a moving target a mile in the sky and at an angle that would even enter a cockpit, does this mean we we really have 1000 Beavis and Butthead type assholes just sitting around everywhere pointing lasers at airplains?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 19 2016, @01:24PM
or you could have just one asshole, with a pair of good binoculars, sitting at the end of the runway, so the plane would practically sit still for them when it's landing.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Friday February 19 2016, @01:30PM
Given that these planes usually seem to be hit during takeoff and landing, as the other AC said, it's not as hard as you think.
As for 1,000 Buttheads, it does seem to be very common if you look at the stats. There are some in the previous article [soylentnews.org]. If you want to see what one of these Butthead types look like, look no further than here [bbc.com].
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