YXE laser

[tripleseven]

Watch out for green laser east of airport in Saskatoon. Got lit departing 09 this morning. Silverspring area.

[frozen solid]

What's it like? Is it just a green dot moving around on the cockpit ceiling, or is it like a distracting flash? I'm assuming you managed to avoid getting right in the eyeball, but still how easy is it to identify what's happening? Obviously it's never happened to me, so I'm curious about how dangerous it is. I'm sure if it catches you straight in the eye it's plenty dangerous.

[shurshot17]

Light expands the farther it travels... its not just a little dot... It can cover your entire windscreen and reduce your visibility to nearly zero.

[frozen solid]

Right, of course I didn't think of that. I looked it up and the beam divergence of a cheap laser with a small aperture means that a beam might be more than a meter wide after travelling a kilometre. So it's still fairly bright at that distance too is it?

[shurshot17]

Some of the laser pointers today, Krypton brand, i think they are called are extremely powerful and blinding. As far as cheap dollar store red ones, I have no idea how bad they are...... Youtube it, lots of videos out there. Gives you a decent idea.

[oldtimer]

It is considered a criminal act to point a laser at an aircraft. I tried to locate the artical without sucess but somewhere in the USA, a fellow and his girlfriend were pointing a laser at airplanes, got caught, went to trial and was sentenced to 14 years in jail.

[kevenv]

It is considered a criminal act to point a laser at an aircraft. I tried to locate the artical without sucess but somewhere in the USA, a fellow and his girlfriend were pointing a laser at airplanes, got caught, went to trial and was sentenced to 14 years in jail.

http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopi ... 54&t=95268

[atpilot]

Seems to be a popular passtime in YXE. The same thing happened to a Flightcraft pilot in May of 2013. I thought that they caught the kid that did it.

[slam525i]

What's it like? Is it just a green dot moving around on the cockpit ceiling, or is it like a distracting flash? I'm assuming you managed to avoid getting right in the eyeball, but still how easy is it to identify what's happening? Obviously it's never happened to me, so I'm curious about how dangerous it is. I'm sure if it catches you straight in the eye it's plenty dangerous.

I've been unlucky enough to have been hit multiple times, but lucky in that I was far enough away each time, and the laser was weak enough.

As others have mentioned, at a good distance, the beam is wide enough that it covers the entire cockpit. That also means that the energy isn't as dense, so it's not as bright. What I got each time was a weird green glow cast into the cockpit, as if someone plugged in a green night-light. Sometimes it's weak enough you don't notice it casting light at all. If you look towards the source, lasers are obvious because of speckling. Instead of being a solid or a blinking light, they're "speckled" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speckle_pattern) an so they seem to be getting randomly brighter and softer very quickly. They're also brighter than all the surrounding lights.

I haven't been hit with anything that's seriously distracting or damaging, but that's probably because of luck and being far enough away from the source.

[Posthumane]

What's it like? Is it just a green dot moving around on the cockpit ceiling, or is it like a distracting flash? I'm assuming you managed to avoid getting right in the eyeball, but still how easy is it to identify what's happening? Obviously it's never happened to me, so I'm curious about how dangerous it is. I'm sure if it catches you straight in the eye it's plenty dangerous.

I've been unlucky enough to have been hit multiple times, but lucky in that I was far enough away each time, and the laser was weak enough.

As others have mentioned, at a good distance, the beam is wide enough that it covers the entire cockpit. That also means that the energy isn't as dense, so it's not as bright. What I got each time was a weird green glow cast into the cockpit, as if someone plugged in a green night-light. Sometimes it's weak enough you don't notice it casting light at all. If you look towards the source, lasers are obvious because of speckling. Instead of being a solid or a blinking light, they're "speckled" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speckle_pattern) an so they seem to be getting randomly brighter and softer very quickly. They're also brighter than all the surrounding lights.

I haven't been hit with anything that's seriously distracting or damaging, but that's probably because of luck and being far enough away from the source.

There was a laser strike at YXH this weekend. See this post for a picture of the effect:
http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopi ... 79&t=95360

[Longtimer]

And the crap keeps happening. Until a perp gets stepped on real hard by the courts, there will be idiots that think there is nothing wrong with pointing lasers at aircraft. Following is the latest:


Lasers pointed at Calgary pilots in Ottawa
Ian Campbell Sep 26, 2014 03:58:09 PM

A scary incident situation for a pair of Calgary-based WestJet pilots as they were descending into Ottawa late Monday night, Tuesday morning.

They were on final approach to Macdonald Cartier International Airport when someone pointed a green laser into the flight deck of their Boeing 737.

Documents with Transport Canada show the laser was pointed at the plane for two minutes the pilots were still able to land.

Both the men inside however I’m being told reported some minor injuries discomfort like itching and pain.

WestJet spokesperson Brie Ogle tells 660News luckily they’ve since been cleared to fly and there won’t be any permanent damage.

“We wanna do everything within our power to create a safe working environment for your pilots. And there are real health repercussions for being exposed to a laser beam, so we do have a protocol in place where they will get checked out and there is also follow-ups”

Ottawa Police are still investigating.
http://www.660news.com/2014/09/26/laser ... in-ottawa/

[Longtimer]

Seems to be a "monkey see / monkey do" situation developing re idiots and their lasers. Perhaps time for the various associations / unions to lobby for tougher enforcement / penalties and put the act under the criminal code.

CTVNews.ca Staff
Published Saturday, September 27, 2014 12:53PM EDT

Police in Richmond, B.C., are investigating after three flights arriving and departing from the Vancouver airport were hit by lasers this past week.

Richmond RCMP said all three cases happened at the Vancouver International Airport on Monday.

The light from the lasers is potentially blinding for pilots and it is illegal to point them at airplanes. Under the Aeronautics Act, someone convicted of pointing a laser into an aircraft cockpit in Canada could face up to five years in prison and face fines up to $100,000.



When the light from the laser fills the cockpit, it can cause irreparable damage to the retina if a pilot take a direct hit.

The RCMP said nobody was injured in the three cases. Officers tracked the laser pointer to the nearby Steveston area, but weren't able to find the person responsible.

Also Monday, a WestJet flight originating from Vancouver was hit by a laser while landing in Ottawa. That plane landed safely, but both pilots suffered eye injuries.

WestJet spokesperson Brie Ogle said the light lit up the flight deck for about four minutes.

"We take the health and safety of our pilots, crew and everybody at WestJet very seriously, and when someone jeopardizes that, we don't take too kindly to it," she said.

According to Transport Canada, when a laser is directed into an airplane cockpit it can cause the following hazards: distractions for the pilot and co-pilot, glare and temporary flash-blindness.

"In the worst-case scenario, these effects could cause a major accident," the agency says on its website.

The agency said there were 461 reported incidents last year of pilots being distracted or even temporarily blinded by lasers.

The use of lasers and hobby drones is becoming a growing concern among the aviation industry.

Last July, the RCMP and Transport Canada launched a joint investigation after a near miss between a drone and an aircraft taking off from Vancouver's airport.

Richmond B.C. Sgt. Cam Kowlaski is part of an aviation safety committee that’s lobbying the federal government to enact legislation around laser use near airports.

With files from CTV Vancouver and The Canadian Press


Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/b-c-rcmp-i ... z3EXYFpgCb

[sstaurus]

I've also been hit by the dreaded 'speckled' green flash. I still can't imagine what's going through any sane person's head... even a drunk one... would they be laughing if they saw a plane crash on the news the next day?

[Longtimer]

I've also been hit by the dreaded 'speckled' green flash. I still can't imagine what's going through any sane person's head... even a drunk one... would they be laughing if they saw a plane crash on the news the next day?

Either we are just seeing more reports or the frequency is on the increase. Let's hope no one who might indeed want to achieve the result you talk about is ever motivated to do so. I wonder if there are any window coatings that might solve this problem?

[Go Guns]

Calgary Police HAWCS has a pretty good record for nailing these guys. I think they're up to three now.

Jason John McConnell, 34

19-year-old Michael Sanche

David Mackow, 29

The later was fined $1000...

[trey kule]

I wonder if there are any window coatings that might solve this problem

Yes..Iron Bars. Coating should last for several years.
Fines are a joke considering how hard it is to catch someone, and the potential lethal consequences

[cyeg66]

Calgary Police HAWCS has a pretty good record for nailing these guys. I think they're up to three now.

Jason John McConnell, 34

19-year-old Michael Sanche

David Mackow, 29

The later was fined $1000...

Yeah, I was gonna say that the incidence appears to be quite high in the YYC area. Thankfully HAWCS has been airborne when some of these things happened, even been targeted themselves a few times. Talk about picking the wrong plane to laze. Fokkin idjits!

[Cessna driver]

EPS with Air1/2 has had their share as well, people are dumb, the $100,000/5 years jail needs to be enforced harder

[Go Guns]

Interesting... since I looked up those three incidents... at the top of my avcanada page now is an ad for a "laser that can be seen from space"...

[slam525i]

I wonder if there are any window coatings that might solve this problem?

Anyone attend the last TC aviation safety seminar at 4900 Yonge, Toronto? No?

They talked about lasers briefly. They also demonstrated "laser glasses" that reflect the light significantly, but apparently messes with the displays in the cockpit. I would think any actual window coatings would require STCs and would likely wear off after a few hundred hours anyway.

The problem is catching the idiots. I've been hit repeatedly from the same spot that the speaker said is well known to be a source ("the bend in the DVP"), but, appreciating it from the side of enforcement, what can you do? Unless the police catch them right in the act (as with idiots who aim them at police helicopters), there's very little proof that can assure a conviction. The damned things certainly aren't illegal to own, carry, or even aim them randomly in the sky; it's only illegal if you aim specifically at an aircraft.

It'd be ideal to deter the idiots by slapping them with huge fines and criminal charges, but apparently the Crown doesn't really appreciate the magnitude of the situation, and usually hands down wrist-slapping sentences.

It seems like the best we can do is report it each and every time. Eventually the number of reports will become so overwhelming that they'll be forced to do something about it. Keep reporting them to the ATC. Keep filing the Direct Bright Light reports (http://www.tc.gc.ca/media/documents/ca- ... 6-0751.pdf).