Man gets 14 years for pointing laser at helicopter

[LightWalker]

It looks like those lasers can get you into a lot of trouble.

http://www.11alive.com/story/travel...er-sentence-14-years-california-alpa/6330661/

 

[Tmack]

So can anything else if you're an idiot with it.
I can get life in prison with a fork if I use it in a way that it is not intended.
People have been murdered with maglite. Do you say " looks like those maglite can get you in alot of trouble"
That's very high on the long list of laser rules. Never point at aircraft, or in air space where you could potentially hit one.

I don't want to sound all preachy (to late huh lol) but saying it like that is just what the people who want to ban them all together say. Most laser hobbyists are just like you flashlight guys. We like to build, buy, collect and have fun safely. Yeah idiots are out there, but it's the idiot who should suffer, (in this case he did) and not the hobby. And cases like this only hurt the hobby because people say the same thing. " lasers are horrible" when it's the PERSON who is horrible.

 

[markr6]

Sounds very intentional from the story. But since these are apparently used for astronomy and pointing out stars, I wonder if anyone has ever been accused of intentionally hitting a plane when it was an accident? Or, if they couldn't see the plane maybe it's far enough away not to be a concern?

A hospital helicopter flys over my house quite a bit and it's very low since the hospital is about 1mi away. It would be impossible to hit that by accident. But if you're pointing out stars and you don't see a plane 5miles up, is that a problem? I guess it depends on the lasers power.

 

[Tmack]

A green pointer that costs $50 could hit that plane even at maximum altitude. And the cases where the beam is held on the pilot is very rare. At that distance your just hitting the aircraft for a split second. The problem is landing or low flying aircraft. And an accident is easily discernable from intentional. Accident is a quick flash. Intentional is the beam held on the target.

But that's a good question though. I wonder if that has happened. But it's also your responsibility to make sure no aircraft are in your path.


I can make a 1w 445nm for $100 that can be seen from the International space station.
For a green laser, hitting a plane is easy.

 

[880arm]

The article doesn't really state why this individual was pointing their laser at aircraft but it may have been through ignorance rather than malice. Either way, it seems probable that someone will try this (or has tried) with deliberate and malicious intent. Have there been any developments of defensive measures against something like this - such as some sort of reflective coating on cockpit glass?

 

[Tmack]

We have talked about that alot over at lpf. It wouldn't take much to add some protection to the glass, but incidents are so isolated, it's not cost effective.

The type of lasers that reaches planes us green because if it's excellent divergence. The thing that really harms you is the 808nm pump diode fir the dpss system. But the thing us 808 alone has horrible divergence. So by the time the dot get up there, most if not all the harmful infrared light has diverged to nothing, and the small amount of green (still dangerous) is what's hiting the pilot. So aside from temporarily flash blinding the pilot, they would not suffer injury. Now of course the claim injury for there own reasons.
So, this even further makes it not worth their time to coat plane windscreens,.

 

[LightWalker]

I have seen my nephew with his paw paws Streamlite Stinger shining it around in the back yard shining about 350 lumens into the houses of neighbors. I could imagine a teenager grabbing his dads laser and shining it where it should not be. I think they should be put up away from children just like a firearm.

 

[Tmack]

Absolutely. Whenever I sell one that's exactly what I say. Treat it like a gun. Never leave the batteries in. Keep on a safe place away from not only children, but irresponsible people in general. My 3w maglite even has keys to activate it. They are no toy. It's good some people have sense enough to know danger when they see it. Too many don't :/

 

[markr6]

My 3w maglite even has keys to activate it.

I recently purchased a green laser on Ebay for about $18 and it came with a set of keys. I thought that was the strangest thing, but makes sense especially after seeing the power of this thing! Very nice feature for a cheap laser.

 

[Empath]

The discussion and/or promotion of any illegal activities in this forum will not be allowed. Moderating of this will be done on the side of caution and not necessarily by law.

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