After a successful trial project in several major US urban center , the FBI has declare that it will reward up of $ 10,000 for information leading to the hitch of anyone who intentionally aims a laser at an aircraft .
Last year , 3,960 optical maser strikes were reported — a smutty praxis with potentially ruinous consequences . According to the FBI :
When train at an aircraft , the powerful beam of luminosity from a handheld laser can travel more than a mile and crystallise a cockpit , disorientate and temporarily blind airplane pilot . Those who have experienced such attacks have trace them as the combining weight of a tv camera flash going off in a lurch black car at dark . As of December 2013 , the FAA had documented at least 35 incidents where pilots required aesculapian attention after a laser ten-strike .
It ’s a federal law-breaking to intervene with the operation of an aircraft , and a Modern constabulary in 2012 made it a felony to knowingly point a optical maser light beam at an aircraft .
Back in March , for example , a 26 class - old homo was thrown in prison for 14 years after aiming his laser Spanish pointer at a law helicopter and a hospital emergency conveyance chopper . The man and his girlfriend were using a gimmick that was 13 times more hefty than the allowable power discharge level for handheld laser ( girlfriend is currently serving a two - year prison conviction ) .
Watch the arrest of a man suspect of aim a optical maser at a whirlybird :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymFhtmPxu-k
“ Aiming a optical maser pointer at an aircraft is a serious thing and a violation of federal law , said the FBI ’s Joe Campbell in a statement . “ The public consciousness campaign we launched in February has been efficacious in reducing the issue of incidents , and our hope in expanding the program is that people will think twice about illegally using these machine . ”
The initiative resulted in a 19 % decrease in the number of reported incident where it was deployed , including Albuquerque , Chicago , Cleveland , Houston , Los Angeles , New York City , and Philadelphia .
“ We need to encourage people to come forward when they see someone perpetrate this crime , which could have awful consequences for pilot and their passengers , ” added George Johnson , a federal air marshall who serves as a liaison officer with the Bureau on laser outlet .
The FBI sound out that if you have information about a lasing incident or see someone indicate a laser at an aircraft , call your local FBI billet or telephone dial 911 .
[ FBIviaSlashdot ]
Images FAA .
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