Laser flasher gets fine

[2R]

Calgary laser flasher gets $1,000 fine
Aimed green laser beam into flight path of commercial plane
Karen Kleiss, edmontonjournal.com
Published: Wednesday, September 17, 2008
EDMONTON - A Calgary man who aimed a green laser beam into the flight path of a commercial plane carrying 20 passengers has been fined $1,000.

David Mackow, 29, pleaded guilty in April to the bizarre breach of Canada's Aeronautics Act, which makes it an offence to imperil the safety of an aircraft by compromising the ability of the crew to do their jobs.

In a July decision published in Edmonton this week, Calgary-based Provincial Court Judge Allan Fradsham said there are significant, widespread concerns about the curious act of shining a laser beam at airplanes in the sky, which Transport Canada says can startle pilots and cause flash blindness.


Email to a friend

Printer friendly
Font:****"The conduct ... is part of a growing problem as evidenced by the legislative responses in several jurisdictions," Fradsham wrote, noting governments in the United States and Australia are in the process of passing specific laws to stop people from aiming lasers at planes.

"The potential consequences of that type of conduct are very serious."

On Oct. 17, and Air Canada Jazz flight from Kamloops, B.C. was landing in Calgary when the pilot was distracted by the laser beam in the flight path.

The strong, green beam was coming from a building in the downtown core, and the police helicopter was called out to find the source. When the green laser beam hit the helicopter, too, the pilot took evasive action.

Police found Mackow in his apartment and he gave them the hand-held laser, which he had just received the day before. He was sober and he told police he was "just having some fun," Fradsham said.

The judge refused to grant a discharge because it would undermine the objective of the law, which is to deter people from aiming lasers at planes.

According to reports in Australia's Sydney Morning Herald, laser attacks on planes happen six times a week in that country. In one recent "cluster attack," six aircraft flying into the Sydney Airport were hit in a co-ordinated assault.

In the United States, the Associated Press has reported the FBI is investigating similar laser attacks due to concerns that terrorists may be using them to distract or temporarily blind a pilot.

In February 2006, a New Jersey father of three pleaded guilty to an offence under the Patriot Act for aiming a laser at a plane. He was sentenced to two years' probation.

kkleiss@thejournal.canwest.com

[C-FABH]

Justice is served... if you consider someone's eyesight to be worth $1,000.

Hopefully nobody suffered any injuries as a result of this 'tards idea of fun.

[orbit]

The fine does not meet the crime...!
In either case the consequences are lives may be lost! consider if plane crashes and what of the pilots getting permanent eye damage...any laser exposer affects eyesight !
why do the checkers at safeway etc have the lasers pointing at the customers!?
A union thing I was told as it leads to cataracts at a later time if exposer is continous
that being said,,,I feel a more serious fine is due..the pilot should get minimum for damages and stress ,,$5,000. and these people pay for police time and courts plus minimum 2 years in the can!...Lasers is a serious offence... especially if your job is your eyesight...!
The $5 K I noted is " 0 " if your eyes are cooked!

[sugarfree]

I admit I do not know squat about lasers, but are the hand held lasers really that powerful??

SF./

[flying4dollars]

I admit I do not know squat about lasers, but are the hand held lasers really that powerful??

SF./

its enough to blind

thats powerful enough

$1000 fine? Should be $10,000...minimum. If you really wanna deter people from doing it, fine em $50K. Use the $ to put towards a fund-a-pilot program

[b1ngnx33]

Lasers are "not" toys.

Lasers are powerful tools, that can be used as weapons, and you don't need a license.

You can get a 40 mW laser for under 200 dollars.

That is more than enough to do permanent retina damage.

But it doesn't kill you.

That "small" fine is an absolute joke.

The blu-ray laser is even more dangerous.

If you have the skills, you can take it apart, and make a blu ray gun.

Someone even made a video on how to do it.

That blue laser will burn paper. Nasty stuff.

Canada will make a Laser Registry very soon.

When the guns are banned, criminals will get lasers.

Lasers are "silent".

Lasers can be "invisible". You only see a very very narrow field in the electromagnetic spectrum.

Lasers are also cheaper than guns. Battery life is an issue, but criminals have an infinite budget.

I'm surprised criminals haven't started using lasers.

Maybe they have, and the media has conveniently forgot to report it.

Here is the punishment I would give to this nice laser flasher.

Look at this co2 laser. Its only a little more powerful than the one you used.

Which eye would you like to lose?

OR

Pay the 100,00.00 fine. We have the finest gov't accountants money can buy. You can pay it off

in installments. Interest free for 90 days.

I have personally had to deal with retards who thought pointing a laser eye pointer into my eye

was "fun" to do.

I made it perfectly clear to them that I was not amused in any way whatsoever.

I wanted to give them a nice present. Nice, warm, fuzzy presents with a teddy bear.

*cough* extreme sarcasm alert *cough*

Yes. Everyone likes presents. >:)

[Hedley]

Why not just beat the sh1t out of the guy? He
could spend a couple weeks in a body cast in
hospital, thinking about what he did.

Oh sorry, I forgot, this is Canada. Disregard.

[niss]

In the United States, the Associated Press has reported the FBI is investigating similar laser attacks due to concerns that terrorists may be using them to distract or temporarily blind a pilot.

Plane attack

Almost simultaneously, two shoulder-launched Strela 2 (SA-7) surface-to-air missiles were fired at another chartered Boeing 757 airliner owned by Israel-based Arkia Airlines as it took off from Moi International Airport. The missiles missed the aircraft, carrying 271 vacationers from Mombasa back to Israel, and it continued safely to Tel Aviv. United States intelligence officials reported that six live missiles were found at the scene.[citation needed]

More than 250 Israelis, including the 80 wounded, were escorted home by armed guard in Israeli Air Force planes. The planes also carried the bodies of the three vacationers who were killed; two brothers, aged 12 and 14, and a 61-year-old man.[citation needed]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Momba ... ane_attack

Lasers dont really seem like a terrorists MO, they seem to be more of missile and RPG types. But who knows. Maybe Al Queda will be off the end of the active at YYZ with 500 pigeons trying to bring one down?

[hazatude]

As far as I'm concerned, it should be treated the same as if he fired a rifle at the plane.

[Odysseus]

I personnaly had this happen to me on approach about a month ago in CYHU. Just about to turn base for the visual when this green laser started targeting us. It lasted for about 30 seconds, and it seemed to be deliberatly shinning into my side window. It caught the corner of my eye, luckly I didn't stare right into it, I just tried to block the beam with my sun visor. I learned later that it was probably a kind of laser that astronomers use to target their telescopes. Weird stuff, I hear it happens alot in the US.

[...]

I once had laser eye surgery.

Trust me...when the bandages come off...lasers DON'T shoot out of your eyes as they advertised.

[kingeddie]

Laser Light Directed at Air1

12-Aug-2008 15:10 PST
Back | Print Article


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


A 31-year-old man visiting from Columbia, South America has been charged after a laser light was directed at the DRPS helicopter, Air1.

On Saturday August 9th 2008, at approximately 10:00 p.m., Air1 was over Ajax assisting officers who were trying to locate a suspect armed with a shotgun in an unrelated incident. The aircraft was flying at an altitude of 1,200 feet when the crew was blinded by an intense green light coming from below. The pilot had to take evasive action in an attempt to avoid the laser strikes.

The Air1 crew used on-board infrared technology to identify the location of a person standing in the driveway of a townhouse. Responding ground units attended the location in Ajax and arrested the suspect. A small, laser-pointing device was located.

Juan Carlos OROZCO PELAEZ, age 31, of Columbia, South America has been charged with offences under the Canadian Aviation Regulations, the Aeronautics Act and the Criminal Code.

If convicted, the charge under the Aeronautics Act carries a maximum fine of $100,000 and/or five years in prison. At a bail hearing, the suspect’s passport was surrendered and he was released on a cash surety of $10,000. A judge has ordered a publication ban on ongoing court proceedings.

The officer in charge of the DRPS Air Support Unit, Staff Sergeant Alan Mack, wants the public to understand that there is a danger to air crews and the community when small hand held laser beams are directed at aircraft.

“The use of any laser light beam creates potential hazards for aircraft operations. When directed into the human eye, laser lights can create temporary blindness that may affect the pilot’s ability to operate the aircraft safely.” Staff Mack said. “We take incidents of this nature very seriously.”

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Staff Sergeant Alan Mack of the Air Support Unit at 905-579-1520 ext 4440 (toll free 1-888-579-1520) or anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

-30-


_________________
Basic Flying Rules: 'Try to stay in the middle of the air. Do not go near
the edges of it. The edges of the air can be recognized by the appearance
of ground, buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space. It is much more
difficult to fly there.'

[Tim]

maybe we should start adding targetable lasers on planes and shoot these bastards back....of course that could lead to some ugly situations when a 172 cuts you off on final.

Anyone know of any type of glass or glare shielding that could reduce the effects of a laser shone through the cockpit?

[yycflyguy]

Frickin sharks with frickin laser beams attached to their frickin heads.

Laser Light Directed at Air1

12-Aug-2008 15:10 PST
Back | Print Article


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


A 31-year-old man visiting from Columbia, South America has been charged after a laser light was directed at the DRPS helicopter, Air1.

Juan Carlos OROZCO PELAEZ, age 31, of Columbia, South America has been charged with offences under the Canadian Aviation Regulations, the Aeronautics Act and the Criminal Code.

Where is this mythical place Columbia, South America?

[BibleMonkey]

More pilots blinded by lasers


20 now report they've been targeted while trying to land at Pearson and Island airports
Oct 21, 2008 04:30 AM

Incidents of pilots being blinded by lasers while attempting to land in the GTA are on the rise.

Back in March, Transport Canada had got five complaints since 2005 from pilots attempting to land at Toronto area airports about someone shining a laser at their plane and trying to target their eyes from the ground.

Since then, 15 pilots have filed local complaints about laser pointers aimed at incoming or outgoing aircraft. The most recent reports were from Oct. 10 and 13, by pilots flying into Toronto Island and Pearson International airports respectively.

"We can no longer say that it's rare," said Robert Palmer, spokesperson for WestJet Airlines.

In total, Transport Canada has received 73 reports of lasers aimed into cockpits across the country, including 46 so far in 2008.

The aviation industry is labelling these incidents "security concerns,"......

Can a pocket laser damage the eye?So for a pointer to be useful, the power must be high enough that the government classifies it as a 3A and requires a DANGER label.

These little bastards need to be put into a cage.

[iwillflyajet]

I have always thought that a laser would be a great tool to have in a survival kit. I think that if you were part of a search and rescue team in the middle of Rockies. A laser suddenly lighting up a cloud for a second or two might not seem like a big deal.
But if you are injured and the laser light was the only thing that got the attention of the rescuers was a laser.....
just my 10cents worth....

[orbit]

can't belive the fines..they just don't deter the crime..the columbian guy should have been deported after a hefty fine....over $10 k and the people he's staying with no doubt from the same seed...
I say get rid of them!

[Spokes]

I have always thought that a laser would be a great tool to have in a survival kit. I think that if you were part of a search and rescue team in the middle of Rockies. A laser suddenly lighting up a cloud for a second or two might not seem like a big deal.
But if you are injured and the laser light was the only thing that got the attention of the rescuers was a laser.....
just my 10cents worth....

Hmm thats a good Idea, I think I'll stick one in each of my planes emergency packs. The cheep green lazers I have can be seen easyly by the naked eye for 5+ km's in the dark. A perfect notice me light.

Of course if you blind the pilot of the rescue plane you are no better off. Try a mirror instead. Maybe some matches for a signal fire.

[TC Guy]

Interesting.

I have seen "Laser Flares" in survival kits used by the Federal Gov't.

I don't know what brand they are, but they are similar to this: https://www.greatlandlaser.com/index.php

(see "Laser Flare")

-Guy

[yycflyguy]

can't belive the fines..they just don't deter the crime..the columbian guy should have been deported after a hefty fine....over $10 k and the people he's staying with no doubt from the same seed...
I say get rid of them!

Yes, line them up against a wall and call for the firing squad. Kanadian redneck philosophy painting all 'em Columbians with the same brush.... FYI - Colombia is the country, Colombians are the people from the country... note the "O" in the spelling.