Aussie laser-pointer dazzle attacks on airliners:

Australian politicians are demanding restrictions on the ownership of laser pointers in the land down under. The banning calls follow a series of widely-reported incidents in which individuals on the ground have attempted to dazzle pilots of commercial aircraft making approaches to landing.

A particularly troublesome dazzling attack took place last Friday, involving at least four comparatively-powerful green laser pointers in the Bexley area of Sydney. Six passenger flights were affected, with air-traffic controllers having to re-route the planes.

"The use of these laser pointers against aeroplanes is unbelievably stupid and cannot be tolerated," Australian Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"I cannot say what the motivation of this extraordinarily irresponsible behaviour has been - there are a range of possibilities from vandalism and stupidity through to outright criminality.

"There is every reason to treat these devices as if they are firearms and respond with that kind of severity."

Laser-dazzling harassment of aircraft in Australia is a common problem, with official spokesmen saying that five to six incidents are typically reported each week.

New South Wales Police Minister David Campbell said that the state might ban laser pointers.

"There are some penalties that police can impose now, but we're looking to make these items a prohibited weapon in certain circumstances," he told the Herald.

Some green laser pointers are significantly more powerful than ordinary red ones, with expensive models putting out enough energy to pop a balloon at close range. Their effects against aircraft, however, are purely a matter of dazzling the pilots. There has been military interest in "non-lethal" laser weapons intended for just this sort of attack, or perhaps ones which might permanently blind enemies - though purpose-built blinding weapons are banned by international convention.

In Canada, there has recently been a debate over government plans to trial dazzler technology in Afghanistan, as an alternative to deadly force; Canadian troops are committed in the dangerous southern areas of Afghanistan, and have been compelled to open fire many times. In general, however, the huge amounts of negative publicity resulting from non-lethal weapons has made armed forces and police reluctant to get seriously involved.

America has also seen lasering of airline pilots, with the Feds deploying Patriot Act measures against suspected dazzler terrorists a couple of years back.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/03/australian_airliner_laser_attacks/

Pilots urge ban on laser pointers to avoid disaster

AIRLINE pilots have called for hand-held laser pointers to be banned after a number of pilots were dazzled by them while landing.

Thugs have hit pilots at Dublin Airport with the lasers just 90 seconds before landing, and in a worst-case scenario they could suffer temporary blindness, which could lead to a disaster.

Yesterday, Captain Adrian Hinkson of the Irish Airline Pilots Association (IALPA) said that up to a dozen incidents had been recorded at Dublin Airport since September, prompting Aer Lingus to issue guidance to its pilots on what to do in the event of being targeted by thugs wielding the potentially deadly devices.

"This has been happening quite a bit where idiots are using them to shine into the cockpits of airplanes on approach when they're quite close in," he said.

"Some of these things would almost have a military specification. Our problem is it's currently not an offence to have one," he added.

"If it gets you in the eye you're going to be incapacitated for up to half an hour, and you can also suffer retinal damage. Gardai and the air traffic controllers have been extremely good; but without legislation, people could escape with just a fine."

Captain Hinkson said the lasers should be classified as weapons, making it illegal to possess one except under licence.

The high-powered pointers are used by professional astronomers and enthusiasts for pointing out stars, but people should require a licence to own one, he added.

In the US, a San Jose, California man was arrested in November on suspicion of pointing a laser at an aircraft.

Another man was sentenced to two years probation in 2005 after he pleaded guilty to interfering with pilots of a passenger aircraft by shining a hand-held laser into the cockpit of a plane at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.

The Irish Aviation Authority said 10 such incidents have taken place since September and that gardai have used aerial support to try and pinpoint the laser sources. And Aer Lingus said six of its flights had been targeted with laser light beams in recent months.

Gardai said it had received reports about people aiming the lasers at aircraft coming into Dublin, but could not confirm if a file was pending over any of the incidents.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/pilots-urge-ban-on-laser-pointers-to-avoid-disaster-1592102.html