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

[MaxPayne63]

Guy needs to be castrated for the good of the gene pool. Why would any person do something which has even a slight chance to cause a plane to crash?

 

[Aikouka]

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.

If Rocket City Rednecks taught me anything it's that blue lasers are more powerful. Although, you could just look at the light spectrum and see that too. 😛

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Electromagnetic-Spectrum.png

 

[phucheneh]

If Rocket City Rednecks taught me anything it's that blue lasers are more powerful. Although, you could just look at the light spectrum and see that too. 😛

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Electromagnetic-Spectrum.png

I dunno if higher or lower wavelength actually equates to different capabilities.

Red generally seems to be the most eye-burning color, in general. As in, put a pure red image on your LCD monitor...then a pure blue image...which hurts more?

That bit of anecdotal observation would lead me to believe that red lasers would harness the energy most efficiently.

 

[LTC8K6]

http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/...er_pointer_aircraft_fbi_arrest_indictment.php

This has been something that law enforcement has been wanting to crack down on.

 

[phucheneh]

LOL. I like how they're now getting their file photos from Facebook.

The suspect, self-shotgunning a blunt up his nose.

 

[Fayd]

I dunno if higher or lower wavelength actually equates to different capabilities.

Red generally seems to be the most eye-burning color, in general. As in, put a pure red image on your LCD monitor...then a pure blue image...which hurts more?

That bit of anecdotal observation would lead me to believe that red lasers would harness the energy most efficiently.

the blue.

there's a reason reds are used on displays on navy ships. it doesn't mess up nightvision, and isn't as visible from far away.

(for the same reason, my flashlight for amateur astronomy is also red.)

 

[phucheneh]

Nightvision is a totally different subject. I'm talking about the intensity of the beam.

Also, google the red nightvision thing. It's a partial myth (or: it's complicated).

 

[Fenixgoon]

I dunno if higher or lower wavelength actually equates to different capabilities.

Red generally seems to be the most eye-burning color, in general. As in, put a pure red image on your LCD monitor...then a pure blue image...which hurts more?

That bit of anecdotal observation would lead me to believe that red lasers would harness the energy most efficiently.

energy = planck's constant*frequency
(or planck's constant*speed of light/wavelength)

shorter wavelength (higher frequency) = more energy = more damaging.

of course any laser will probably damage you eyes because it's focused, amplified light.

 

[Red Squirrel]

A little harsh but I really do agree it deserves a punishment. I think a few months in jail would suffice though. Enough to teach a lesson.

What's scary is you can go out and buy a 1 watt laser. They're around $200 or so. A jackass with one of those could do serious permanent damage to many people's vision quickly and from a far distance. They are cool to mess with in a proper safety environment but too many people go and buy these without caring about safety.

 

[T9D]

I have a 1 watt laser. Guy in Napa makes them. I just shined it in the night sky (not at anything of course). a slight haze to the air it looks like a giant lightsaber. I love it.

 

[Kadarin]

Nobody should ever point lasers at aircraft for any reason. However, I'll just throw this out there... http://www.wickedlasers.com.hk/arctic

 

[khon]

You can buy 40 watt co2 laser pointers. :biggrin:

No, you can't.

CO2 lasers emit deep infrared light, which the human eye cannot see.

 

[JEDI]

Nobody should ever point lasers at aircraft for any reason. However, I'll just throw this out there... http://www.wickedlasers.com.hk/arctic

wtf? u can make it into a light saber and cut thru balloons??

 

[Rakehellion]

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.

That's bullshit. If you do anything to tamper with an aircraft, it's a cold felony.

 

[gorcorps]

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.

You'll never know how many pilots were killed by lasers, because they're not alive enough to report there was a laser.

 

[Juddog]

The guy deserved the punishment; the pilot had trouble seeing correctly for several hours, and lasers can cause permanent injury to the eye when looked at directly. Not only did he potentially damage the pilot's eyes but he put an entire airplane full of passengers at risk. Just plain stupid.

 

[BrokenVisage]

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.

Yup, a few years ago you could get a 50mW green laser from DX for cheap, then they stopped letting US customers buy them, then I think they removed them all completely. It's a shame.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

You'll never know how many pilots were killed by lasers, because they're not alive enough to report there was a laser.

Assuming that lasers are death rays that instantly incapacitate the pilot, destroy any ability of radio communication, and/or readily combust aircraft, sure.

 

[Broheim]

play stupid games, win stupid prizes...

 

[Juddog]

Yup, a few years ago you could get a 50mW green laser from DX for cheap, then they stopped letting US customers buy them, then I think they removed them all completely. It's a shame.

Yeah I remember that; they had green argon lasers you could buy, but they had a note in there that you weren't supposed to buy if you're in the US, so people I knew were having them shipped up to Canada where they'd go and pick them up.

 

[jemcam]

Here's a question I've always wondered about these types of offenses... How in the world do the police catch these people? This is the third or fourth story I've read like this. When a plane is in the air flying over a town at high speed, how do they know where it came from and then how do the police go about catching the offender?

It seems like a needle in the haystack search.

 

[Jaskalas]

Here's a question I've always wondered about these types of offenses... How in the world do the police catch these people? This is the third or fourth story I've read like this. When a plane is in the air flying over a town at high speed, how do they know where it came from and then how do the police go about catching the offender?

It seems like a needle in the haystack search.

That one youtube video makes it clear that you don't want to mess with the wrong helicopter.

 

[Broheim]

Here's a question I've always wondered about these types of offenses... How in the world do the police catch these people? This is the third or fourth story I've read like this. When a plane is in the air flying over a town at high speed, how do they know where it came from and then how do the police go about catching the offender?

It seems like a needle in the haystack search.

it happened here in Denmark not too long ago with a chairforce helicopter, the chopper chased down the offender until the police could get to him.

 

[Andy22]

Here's a question I've always wondered about these types of offenses... How in the world do the police catch these people? This is the third or fourth story I've read like this. When a plane is in the air flying over a town at high speed, how do they know where it came from and then how do the police go about catching the offender?

It seems like a needle in the haystack search.

He was stupid enough to ALSO point the laser at the police helicopter responding to the pilots complaint. Had he quit after flashing the plane he probably would have never been caught. What an idiot on so many levels.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

two years seems harsh. Fed charges means he gotta do like 80% of that too.

His life is essentially ruined. He won't be able to vote or get a job and will probably be relegated to a life of welfare and/or crime.

Not smart sentencing imo the long term burden to society this creates is not acceptiable.


EDIT:

To the folks who say he was stupid, I agree, his stupidity was epic. Im pretty sure 50% of 19 year olds do something incredibly stupid that could have hurt or killed someone.