FBI: Laser Beams Aimed Into Cockpits 6 Times Recently
An FBI official said there have been six recent incidents involving laser beams being aimed into cockpits of commercial airliners.
The first three took place on Monday, and all planes involved landed safely. There’s no word on when or where the other three incidents occurred, although the official indicated they all happened over the last four days.
A recent memo sent to law enforcement agencies said there’s evidence that terrorists have explored using lasers as weapons. But authorities said there is no specific intelligence showing al-Qaida or other groups might use such weapons in the United States.
And yet no one is discussing the investigation from a similar incident in September when a Delta pilot got an eye injury from a laser while flying into Salt Lake City.
This is not a prank.
Article of Interest
Laser Beams & Terrorism?
FBI Probes Lasers Aimed at Plane Cockpits
My Mom did hear about it yesterday Reilly. I don’t know from what source, but when I was talking to my dad about it, she meantioned it. FYI; As a private pilot, he has not been issued any warnings at this point.
Interesting. I recalled hearing about this on the radio some time ago:
June 11, 1997
The U.S. Navy is finishing tests on various lasers to determine what type of device aboard the Russian spy ship Kapitan Man was used to burn the eyes of Lt. Jack Daley, an intelligence liaison officer flying in a Canadian military helicopter April 4. The Washington Times reports that Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon is downplaying a classified report revealed May 14 that Lt. Daley was temporarily blinded as he photographed the antenna array of the Kapitan Man as the Russian vessel was monitoring the USS Ohio, a ballistic missile submarine going out to sea from the Strait of Juan de Fuca, north of Puget Sound in Washington state.
Pentagon spokesman Bacon also tells reporters that the Defense Department will not make good on Secretary William Cohen’s pledge to reporters last month to release the photograph Lt. Daley took of the laser being fired at the bridge of the Kapitan Man from the helicopter.
link
Thanks for sharing this, Sasha – - super informative.
It seems laser beams have been used for some time – - which makes me ask again why is the FBI still trying to figure out if it is a prank or not.
Reminds me of a Tom Clancy novel:
“Debt of Honor.”
It also told of a 747 slamming into the US Captol during a State of the Union Address.
Oh, don’t remind me. Is it just me, or is fiction beginning to give truth a run for its money in the strangeness factor?
Person Questioned About Laser Beam, Planes
Fri Dec 31, 11:33 PM
TRENTON, N.J. – A laser beam was aimed at a police helicopter Friday _ one of several incidents involving aircraft across the country in the past week _ and federal authorities were questioning someone who had been at a house where they said the light had originated.
Officials said no one was hurt when the laser hit the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police helicopter as it flew over an area where a similar incident occurred Wednesday.
Soon after, Port Authority officials and the FBI went to a Parsippany home where they had tracked the laser beam and were questioning a person there in connection with both incidents, said Steve Coleman, an authority spokesman.
No charges had been filed as of late Friday night, Coleman said.
Police in the helicopter were trying to pinpoint the spot where three green lasers were pointed at a pilot preparing to land a plane at Teterboro Airport on Wednesday night. The force’s superintendent and some detectives were in the helicopter at the time, Coleman said.
The plane involved in Wednesday’s incident, a corporate-owned Cessna Citation with 13 people aboard, was about 11 miles from the airport when the incident occurred, authorities said. It landed safely and no injuries were reported.
Federal agents are looking into several recent incidents involving lasers and aircraft, including cases in Cleveland, Washington, Houston, Colorado Springs, Colo., and Medford, Ore. In some cases the lasers locked onto aircraft several thousand feet up as they approached airports for landing.
Though there have been no reports of accidents caused by lasers, they can temporarily blind and disorient a pilot and could lead to a plane crash. The FBI is investigating whether the incidents are pranks, accidents or something more sinister.
TRENTON, N.J. – Authorities investigating two incidents in which laser beams were aimed at aircraft flying over northern New Jersey have questioned several people but made no arrests, the FBI said Saturday.
The pilot of a corporate jet first reported seeing the green lasers on Wednesday as he came in to Teterboro Airport for landing. A police helicopter for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey flew over the area Friday to investigate, and also spotted the lasers.
FBI Special Agent Steve Kodak said Saturday that no one was in custody. A spokesman for the Port Authority said a Parsippany resident was among those questioned.
Federal agents are looking into similar incidents involving lasers and aircraft, including cases in Cleveland, Washington, Houston, Colorado Springs, Colo., and Medford, Ore.
Laser beams can temporarily blind or disorient pilots and possibly cause a plane to crash.
Federal law enforcement officials have said there is no evidence of a terrorist plot involving laser beams, though last month the FBI and the Homeland Security Department sent a memo to law enforcement agencies saying there is evidence that terrorists have explored using lasers as weapons.
*** I am just a bit nervous that they right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing.