Rescue signaling lasers project a line, not a point, since it's not practical to hit an airplane with a narrow laser beam. One sweeps the rescue laser's beam across the airplane path so they see a green flash, and even that's not easy.
The airplane is moving too. Even if you manage to hit it, and hit a window, it will be moving so fast I'd expect a few milliseconds illumination at most before the airplane window is out of the beam.
Most reports of laser targeting by airplane pilots are probably bogus - these guys report flying saucers from time to time too, and it's not likely that any of them actually know what a laser strike would look like. On the flip side, given the difficulty of actually hitting an airplane, the few real reports mean there are a *lot* of attempts - very disturbing.
A helicopter that is hovering low is much more realistic to hit. But unless that helicopter is landing or taking off, why is it low? They are noisy and annoy the entire neighborhood. And hovering is not a safe manuvoer in a helicopter anyway. Whenever I hear of a helicopter being hit I think the dude shining the laser needs some time in the Big House, but I also wonder if that helicopter was way too low, trying to hover (a no-no) - the pilot has some explaining to do too.
, I wish some people just used their brains more than they do.
