Overkill?

[DarkMajes71c]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/ 7475530.stm
just read this on the beeb... do you think this is overkill? i mean 4 months for shinning a laser pen at a helicopter is a bit steap. I would like to think that a little flash of light wouldnt force a pilot to crash but if your a pilot and feel different the please let me know!!
is it any different to getting sun glare? which happens frequently in cars and i assume it also does in aircraft.

[vehelpfulguy]

Yes, what is the problem with trying to blind a helicopter pilot while he is flying it.

Of course if the laser beam blinds the pilot and makes the helicopter crash, maybe in a suburban area, killing the pilot and a few people on the ground, its no big deal.

I think a �10 fine would be enough.

(In case anyone does not realise it, I am being sarcastic !)

[andy-hughes]

A little flash of light may not, but as the pilot advised, it lit up his cockpit and made him loose full control of his aircraft, so that's hardly a 'little flash of light' is it?

It is different to sun glare - the sun has proscribed the same flight path since before the earth existed, it's not too hard to make allowances for it, given that you always know where it will be at any given time.

If the sun's light was in the hands of a dimwit moron shining it willy nilly into aircraft cockpits, then yes, that would be different.

[New Judge]

It is indeed totally different to getting sun glare. Pilots expect sun glare. They know where the sun is (or where it will be) in relation to their aircraft and take the necessary precautions.

In my view the pillock that did this escaped lightly and at 21 is old enough to know better. Endangering an aircraft is a stupid thing to do and the consequences can be disastrous.

[jake-the-peg]

I think you'd likely get a steeper penalty attending a political rally and shining one on a minister's forehead.

Seriously though I doubt any of us knows enough about what the effect would have been like so I'm quite surprised that so many people feel able to comment.

I wonder whether there was any other evidence brought up or whether the judge just based it on the pilot's word.

Judge Mushtaz Khokhar - out of control aircraft - can't wait for the comedians to get stuck into this one

[Gromit]

Manchester Airport is five miles from his home, and his house is on the flight path.

[sp1214]

Don't you think that some restriction should be made on the selling of these laser devices? Recently they were used to target Drogba of Chelsea during a football match. Do we wait for someont to be blinded?

[New Judge]

The defendant pleaded guilty, jake, so no evidence would have been presented. Unless there was a "basis of plea" the prosecution's version of events would be accepted by the court.

[DarkMajes71c]

thanks for your answers. but is anyone here a pilot that can let us know how much it would have really effected them?
from what i have seen of laser pens they make a small dot not a great big beam of light that is capable of lighting up a cockpit... but they it could have refracted through the glass and spread out but that would have decreased the brightness of the light.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refractive_index
see dispersion and absorption.

[THECORBYLOON]

In the clip at about 10 seconds, the picture goes white due to the laser pen. The light can travel up to five miles so it has a fair bit power. It's hardly a "little flash of light" is it? The heat from the laser was enough to burst the balloon which, no doubt, the sun would do when its rays are concentrated by a magnifying glass.

You ask if other pilots can say how it "really would have affected them," the point is surely, the pilot in question would have given evidence and if there were any doubt as to his opinion an expert would have been called to refute it.

It may be a wee dot to you, but how about you get someone to shine one in yir eyes and see what it does to you?