# Blinding Aircraft Pilots With Laser Pointers (Don't Need Answer Fast) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 2, 2018, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blinding-aircraft-pilots-with-laser-pointers-dont-need-answer-fast/817189 "2018-07-02T20:24:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blinding-aircraft-pilots-with-laser-pointers-dont-need-answer-fast/817189/21 "2019-05-28T13:28:12Z")
China may have done it again to Australian Navy pilots: [Australian navy pilots struck by lasers in South China Sea](https://www.aol.com/article/news/2019/05/28/australian-navy-pilots-struck-by-lasers-in-south-china-sea/23735725/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYW9sLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAA2Vje8qq5oriaStBFMy4nv6l6463SmqWwabAnkCz2m60mudx52gPu9vOSOxFpazSMBaK0sGPUabaZHK6bdzy2x4OKvLM86h0O1ayVqHgr8ZVOYYI5n4P1t4DE7Lmnt5h0J0HhGOFa-okmPTEOMm9PcW2H1_DcESGhkx__b4BU4A) ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blinding-aircraft-pilots-with-laser-pointers-dont-need-answer-fast/817189/22 "2019-05-29T17:44:09Z")
Those green lasers can be very powerful, and just a little beam spread makes it easier to hit an airplane that’s farther away. As for the angle of attack, one other thing to note is that the cockpit glass in an airplane can be kind of pitted and dinged up from the dust in the atmosphere, or even just dirty, like the windshield in your car. So when a laser hits it, the beam doesn’t just go straight through, it refracts off all those little specs and can create a glaring dazzle effect that lights up the whole cockpit. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blinding-aircraft-pilots-with-laser-pointers-dont-need-answer-fast/817189/23 "2019-05-30T02:17:40Z")
When I first got my keychain laser pointer, as an experiment one evening I aimed it at a school building at the far end of a football field. It made a visible splotch on the side of the building, which according to Google maps, was 569 feet away. Mind you, this little toy laser, suitable for amusing cats, is 2.5" long and is powered by a single AAA battery. Think what I could do with a “tactical” laser. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blinding-aircraft-pilots-with-laser-pointers-dont-need-answer-fast/817189/24 "2019-05-30T02:34:03Z")
How tight are laserbeams? Does the amplitude as a function of range follow the inverse-square law? ---
**Author:** ![JWT\_Kottekoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@JWT\_Kottekoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JWT_Kottekoe)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blinding-aircraft-pilots-with-laser-pointers-dont-need-answer-fast/817189/25 "2019-05-30T02:50:46Z")
Beam divergence for a laser diode is elliptical, but a rough value might be 1 milliradian for the full angle, which means that the beam diverges 1 foot for every thousand feet. If a building is 1000 feet away, the spot would be a foot in diameter. Since the area of the spot goes up as the square of the distance, the power per unit area goes down as the square of the distance. (inverse square law) ---
**Author:** ![JWT\_Kottekoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@JWT\_Kottekoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JWT_Kottekoe)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blinding-aircraft-pilots-with-laser-pointers-dont-need-answer-fast/817189/26 "2019-05-30T02:58:08Z")
I should have said the beam divergence of a typical laser pointer might be 1 mRad. Laser diodes typically have much larger divergence angles. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blinding-aircraft-pilots-with-laser-pointers-dont-need-answer-fast/817189/27 "2019-05-30T04:05:47Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > In one of his novels, Tom Clancy has U.S. spies using a specially-developed, very powerful handheld laser to purposefully blind enemy pilots on takeoff and landing, causing the crashes of several military aircraft. This seems kinda pointless. If you’re already close enough to paint the plane with a laser, why not just shoot a missile at it? ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blinding-aircraft-pilots-with-laser-pointers-dont-need-answer-fast/817189/28 "2019-05-30T06:09:38Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > This seems kinda pointless. If you’re already close enough to paint the plane with a laser, why not just shoot a missile at it? Part of the point was to make this look like an accident. A few days ahead of time the millitary arranged for a fake “warning” of an issue with the autopilot systems and to avoid taking off or landing with the automatic systems. They then blinded the pilots on takeoff knowing they would be flying manually. The book was called “Debt of Honor” ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blinding-aircraft-pilots-with-laser-pointers-dont-need-answer-fast/817189/29 "2019-05-30T08:15:51Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > Part of the point was to make this look like an accident. A few days ahead of time the millitary arranged for a fake “warning” of an issue with the autopilot systems and to avoid taking off or landing with the automatic systems. They then blinded the pilots on takeoff knowing they would be flying manually. > > The book was called “Debt of Honor” Weirdly enough, I’m rereading Debt of Honour at the moment and read this scene last night. The other factor in a light versus missile, was that the agents were in Japan (an enemy country at this point) covered as journalists, and the ‘light’ was disguised as just a part of their camera gear. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blinding-aircraft-pilots-with-laser-pointers-dont-need-answer-fast/817189/30 "2019-05-30T13:57:14Z")
In reply to **rat avatar** , invisible lasers are more dangerous precisely because they’re invisible: If you see a bright visible light, you’ll blink, which will help protect your eyes, but you won’t blink from light you can’t see. So a small amount of invisible light mixed with visible will be less dangerous than that same amount of invisible light alone. ---
**Author:** ![40below](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/51bf81/32.png) [@40below](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/40below)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blinding-aircraft-pilots-with-laser-pointers-dont-need-answer-fast/817189/31 "2019-05-30T17:02:17Z")
I remember when I was in Afghanistan, the local kids would hang around the runways at KAF shooting lasers at any helo they could see. Since the helo was equipped with laser targeting sensors, every trip over the wire started with all the alarms going off and the pilot taking evasive action, which was to gun the bird, hit the deck and do some evasive flying. It pretty much ruined normal helicopter rides for me forever. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blinding-aircraft-pilots-with-laser-pointers-dont-need-answer-fast/817189/32 "2019-10-03T21:56:51Z")
It keeps happening at JFK: [The FBI says someone keeps pointing a blue laser at planes near New York's JFK airport | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/03/us/fbi-jfk-blue-laser-planes-trnd/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blinding-aircraft-pilots-with-laser-pointers-dont-need-answer-fast/817189/33 "2019-10-04T02:53:04Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > This seems kinda pointless. If you’re already close enough to paint the plane with a laser, why not just shoot a missile at it? have you priced missiles lately? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blinding-aircraft-pilots-with-laser-pointers-dont-need-answer-fast/817189/34 "2019-10-04T06:54:17Z")
> [@40below](#): > > I remember when I was in Afghanistan, the local kids would hang around the runways at KAF shooting lasers at any helo they could see. Since the helo was equipped with laser targeting sensors, every trip over the wire started with all the alarms going off and the pilot taking evasive action, which was to gun the bird, hit the deck and do some evasive flying. It pretty much ruined normal helicopter rides for me forever. I bet it didn’t do much to discourage the laser kids either! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blinding-aircraft-pilots-with-laser-pointers-dont-need-answer-fast/817189.md?page=1)