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PSA: Dont Point lasers at planes else it can land u in Federal prison like this guy

JEDI said:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/25/us/california-laser-sentence/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Adam Gardenhire deliberately pointed the commercial grade green laser at a private Cessna Citation that was landing at the Burbank Bob Hope Airport in California on March 29, 2012.


so whats a commercial grade laser pointer?
and whats the diff with one of those cheap laser pointers from DealExtreme.com?
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Commercial grade? Useless term used by a news outlet.

However, the cheap laser pointers from DX are limited (usually) to 5mW output... not enough to really hurt anyone, and cause a bit of glare if it gets in your eye. You can get lasers that are much, much more powerful, the kind you see popping balloons. If you flash one at a cockpit, you could potential blind a pilot or cause enough glare on the windshield to cause big problems, especially during landing.
 
Eureka said:
Commercial grade? Useless term used by a news outlet.

However, the cheap laser pointers from DX are limited (usually) to 5mW output... not enough to really hurt anyone, and cause a bit of glare if it gets in your eye. You can get lasers that are much, much more powerful, the kind you see popping balloons. If you flash one at a cockpit, you could potential blind a pilot or cause enough glare on the windshield to cause big problems, especially during landing.
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thought US law limited lasers sold to 5mW?
 
Later, a helicopter sent by the Pasadena Police Department to investigate the incident also was again hit by a laser, but the pilot had protective equipment and was not injured.

"Gardenhire had no idea that the deceptively ordinary laser he had borrowed from a friend was powerful enough to be seen by, much less distract, a pilot thousands of feet away," wrote attorney Sean Kennedy.
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hes a dumbass. that said, last fall I tried to see if I could light up a passenger plane that flew overhead with my 5w led flashlight. it didn't work, and obviously didn't alarm anyone. the people I was with said I was a dumbass though 🙂
 
2+ years in prison seems far too excessive. I wouldn't do it as I would think it could be an annoyance to the pilot, but would never have thought it was that disruptive to the pilot.

I think they need better communication about just how dangerous these can be.

Possibly a month of community service or similar, but 30 months in prison is extreme.
 
MikeyLSU said:
2+ years in prison seems far too excessive. I wouldn't do it as I would think it could be an annoyance to the pilot, but would never have thought it was that disruptive to the pilot.

I think they need better communication about just how dangerous these can be.

Possibly a month of community service or similar, but 30 months in prison is extreme.
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And if the pilot crashes?
 
MikeyLSU said:
2+ years in prison seems far too excessive. I wouldn't do it as I would think it could be an annoyance to the pilot, but would never have thought it was that disruptive to the pilot.

I think they need better communication about just how dangerous these can be.

Possibly a month of community service or similar, but 30 months in prison is extreme.
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What kinda of asshat thinks it is funny to point a laser at the cockpit of flying plane? Even if it is "harmless", doesn't he have better things to do with his time?

Guess the jokes on him...idiot....
 
30 months in prison? That's a bit ridiculous. Give the guy a month (even that seems excessive) and a shitload of community service. I'd rather him pick up trash on the side of the road for the next 6 months of his life than be pointlessly lodged in the FPMITAP.
 
blurredvision said:
30 months in prison? That's a bit ridiculous. Give the guy a month (even that seems excessive) and a shitload of community service. I'd rather him pick up trash on the side of the road for the next 6 months of his life than be pointlessly lodged in the FPMITAP.
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Then don't try to trace airplanes with high-powered lasers. These aren't the little lasers you tease your cat with. These things hurt. A lot.
 
Eureka said:
And if the pilot crashes?
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that is like thinking we should punish people who text and drive the same as people who text and drive and kill someone by crashing into them.

Maybe you disagree, but in our society, the outcome of an event has a high relevance of punishment.

Attempted murder and actual murder do not hold the same penalty even though the action was the same.

I don't condone this at all, but I think 2+ years in prison is excessive, you are wasting a ton of money and ruining the guys life for this one event. IMO, his actions do not warrant that. I can think of countless other crimes that are punished less that IMO are worse.
 
MikeyLSU said:
that is like thinking we should punish people who text and drive the same as people who text and drive and kill someone by crashing into them.

Maybe you disagree, but in our society, the outcome of an event has a high relevance of punishment.

Attempted murder and actual murder do not hold the same penalty even though the action was the same.

I don't condone this at all, but I think 2+ years in prison is excessive, you are wasting a ton of money and ruining the guys life for this one event. IMO, his actions do not warrant that. I can think of countless other crimes that are punished less that IMO are worse.
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There are also other crimes that are punished more and IMO less. 30 months is a bit on the high side, but it's not a petty crime. Texting and crashing is a lot less likely to kill someone (and on the same scale) as bringing down a plane.

Commercial aviation is one thing that is highly regulated, because of the high costs, damages, and loss of life if even one plane is brought down.

If he brought down the plane, it wouldn't be 30 months.

Maybe it's not 30 months fair, but it's no community service crime, either. The point is to discourage this because it is one thing that, if all the stars align correctly, has huge potential for damage.
 
Eureka said:
There are also other crimes that are punished more and IMO less. 30 months is a bit on the high side, but it's not a petty crime. Texting and crashing is a lot less likely to kill someone (and on the same scale) as bringing down a plane.

Commercial aviation is one thing that is highly regulated, because of the high costs, damages, and loss of life if even one plane is brought down.

If he brought down the plane, it wouldn't be 30 months.

Maybe it's not 30 months fair, but it's no community service crime, either. The point is to discourage this because it is one thing that, if all the stars align correctly, has huge potential for damage.
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Laser pointers have so far killed zero pilots. Without doing any research, I'll guess that at least dozens of people have died due to texting while driving.
 
High power laser pointers are so cool. Which is why I hate these asshats who point them at planes with a passion. They're going to end up getting them banned. Assuming they're not drunk or high, how does anyone come to the conclusion that it's a good idea?! Stupid, stupid people.
 
Good. Finally a judge with the balls to throw some asshat who trolls in real life in prison. I hope this douchebag gets more than lasers shoved up his ass in prison.
 
Fenixgoon said:
cd and dvd-rom drives have pretty powerful lasers IIRC
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I believe it's the writing lasers, not the reading ones. Semantics, mayhaps. But I believe it's cdrom < dvdrom < cdrw < dvdrw (generalizing with 'rw' here). I'm gonna venture to guess that bluray writers are more powerful than dvd writers.

DVD-RW drives are somewhere in 100-200mw range, I think. Those are the ones that people use to burn holes in thin paper and plastic products, pop balloons, ect.

edit: although the power means nothing if you can't focus it.
 
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