# Do people just not understand they shouldn't point lasers at aircraft? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 12, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380 "2015-11-12T16:17:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380/21 "2015-11-12T21:12:39Z")
> [@Nefario](#): > > BTW, the green laser shown in the NYC video is NOT the typical red presentation pointer. A green laser’s power may be high enough that it’s considered a vision hazard in any environment. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > While even a little laser pointer can cause flash blindness, much brighter lasers are now available for a pittance. Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380/22 "2015-11-12T21:54:19Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Yes, the sheer banal stupidity tied to such an awful, risky act makes me shake my head. They think they can be anonymous and it brings out the worst. I honestly don’t believe they think at all about their behavior, because… > [@TriPolar](#): > > I don’t think it matters much how well they understand it, they’re going to do it anyway. > [@madmonk28](#): > > It’s amazing to me that people would do something that could distract a person operating an aircraft full of people. Does anyone else remember the guy who got caught shining a laser into a cockpit and tried to blame it on his little kid? I remember it being referenced in an article early last summer. > [@StrangerThanFiction](#): > > The FAA and FBI are not joking around with this. When somebody gets lased, ATC will immediately vector a police helicopter to the reported location if there is one in the air, and the helicopter guides ground units in to make the arrests. These people are getting serious sentences. I read a story about one guy who was given 14 YEARS in prison for lasing a helicopter. The article I read early last summer focused mainly on this aspect of the issue. The article noted that many pilots don’t even realize they’ve been lased when it occurs. The beam burns the back of the retina and the damage spreads over time to blind the affected eye, thereby eventually destroying a pilot’s career. The article opened with information about people in Santa Barbara being arrested for misuse of a Class {whatever} laser – and it’s apparently a big deal because there’s a small commercial airport up there and also parts of the county are along the flight path for that obscure little airfield called Los Angeles International… And I was thinking about that article a month ago, while I was at a 99-cent store hunting for Halloween Decorations. I was looking at a rack of dozens of little 3-inch battery-cell fueled laser-pointers with interchangeable heads that make pretty little pictures – yeah, that’s right: It was in the toy section! And that’s the problem: People are buying these cheap little devices and giving them to elementary school kids as toys without even reading the warnings on the packaging, much less uttering a single word of caution to their kid, who just wants, wants, wants, a shiny new toy. And, hey, it’s not like it fires a real dart or plastic ball, much less a copper ball-bearing (You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!) so how much harm could it really do? The article I mention above said the FAA and other agencies on the task force considered television warnings but nixed the idea for fear of giving some disgruntled brat any vengeful ideas. At the risk of impeding capitalism and dollar-store investment profits, I really think those devices need to be pulled off the shelves. Yeah, it’s great that we’ve got the technology to make them so quick and cheap when they were a mere pipe dream in the 1970’s, but more thought and control needs to go into their availability and sales. Then again, this is the NRA nation, and regulation of a “harmless” little laser (particularly when those lasers can be mounted on a gun) would never make it to the floor for discussion. –G! Plutocracy: Where politicians think profits are more important than people. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380/23 "2015-11-12T22:07:20Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > If you shine a laser pointer at someone in a room, it just looks like a point of light. But if you shine it into a cockpit, it can be amplified by the curved plexiglass. [This article shows what it looks like](http://mentalfloss.com/article/65424/what-pilots-see-when-you-shine-laser-pointer-aircraft) Thanks! Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380/24 "2015-11-12T22:17:23Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I know a guy who used to use a laser to paint spots on the side of the Goodyear Blimp. At least he knew enough not to point it at the gondola, only the lifting bag. > > Still stupid, although maybe not quite as stupid. The beam width as seen by the pilots & blimp surface is much bigger than the reflected spot you see on the side of the blimp. Odds are he caused some issues. And for darn sure he committed the relevant Federal offense. Probably a good idea for you to suggest he not do this again. ---
**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:** [November 12, 2015, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380/25 "2015-11-12T23:15:04Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > I was looking at a rack of dozens of little 3-inch battery-cell fueled laser-pointers with interchangeable heads that make pretty little pictures – yeah, that’s right: It was in the toy section! I have one of those little 3-inch laser pointers (on a key ring, no less.) One night I went out in the backyard, pointed it at a nearby school building, and made a nice, visible red circle on the wall. I checked the distance. 810 feet:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380/26 "2015-11-12T23:16:51Z")
Count me in as another one who had no idea it was a thing. I would have assumed they were too weak to do anything that far away–not that it would have occurred to me to try, as I don’t own one. If they are that dangerous, why sell them to the public then? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380/27 "2015-11-12T23:35:14Z")
> [@Nefario](#): > > It wasn’t until the NYC cockpit video from a helicopter this week that I believed a pocket laser could really be a problem. Until you see the effect it’s one of those issues where you think authorities have found a new way to penalize funseekers. > [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Count me in as another one who had no idea it was a thing. I would have assumed they were too weak to do anything that far away–not that it would have occurred to me to try, as I don’t own one. If they are that dangerous, why sell them to the public then? That’s why I think a video is worth 100,000 words - seeing is believing and all that. It’s far more convincing than a verbal argument. Tonight on the national news they said the culprit is typically a young male in the late teens/early 20’s which is a prime age for doing stupid stuff without thought to consequences. (Obviously, there are exceptions to that general rule). As to why sell them… well, we sell guns to citizens, don’t we? And people shooting at airplanes is also a “thing”, although I think the notion “don’t shoot an airplane” is more ingrained in folks than “don’t point lasers at airplanes”. Even so, education on the topic is a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380/28 "2015-11-13T08:20:31Z")
Of course they don’t know. Why would they? Are there any warnings on the packaging? I mean, these are toys used to make cats do silly things. You guys talk like this is common knowledge. I know I might have tried it. (I tried it on the moon once.) Now I won’t. It’s ridiculous to say that getting the information out there would not help. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380/29 "2015-11-13T08:33:13Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > Is there some kind of polarized lens that would block the laser light frequencies enough for sight protection that would still allow sight for a pilots duties they could wear when near the ground. Addendum: Polarisation works fine for light that is already polarised - reflection (off water, snow, etc) polarises sunlight, and a filter that only passes light polarised vertically will do an excellent job of stopping light polarised horizontally. Laser light isn’t necessarily polarised and in that case a polarised filter will have negligible effect. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380/30 "2015-11-13T12:59:26Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Of course they don’t know. Why would they? Are there any warnings on the packaging? > > I mean, these are toys used to make cats do silly things. You guys talk like this is common knowledge. > > I know I might have tried it. (I tried it on the moon once.) Now I won’t. It’s ridiculous to say that getting the information out there would not help. You honestly needed to be told not to shine a light in the eyes of a person piloting an aircraft? ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380/31 "2015-11-13T13:13:29Z")
Another person arrested in a different incident last night, [from my hometown](http://ktla.com/2015/11/12/more-than-20-aircraft-in-10-states-struck-by-lasers-in-single-night/). ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380/32 "2015-11-13T13:28:14Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I know I might have tried it. (I tried it on the moon once.) You’re an astronaut? ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380/33 "2015-11-13T14:51:10Z")
They aren’t stupid, they are malicious. There is no reason at all to point a laser at an aircraft but to at least scare the hell out of anyone on board or at worst, cause some sort of catastrophic outcome. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380/34 "2015-11-13T16:05:54Z")
I’ve witnessed an idiot targeting other drivers from a moving car one morning before dawn on the way to work. In addition to the danger to other’s eyes the possibility struck me that his laser might be part of a [handgun targeting sight](https://www.crimsontrace.com/). Either way it’s beyond disconcerting, dangerous and I had to move through traffic to put as much distance between us as possible. There may be a few reasonable uses for these lasers but I’m all for the legislature weighing that value against the potential danger they cause for pilots and the travelling public at large. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380/35 "2015-11-13T16:16:23Z")
> [@Nefario](#): > > I agree and I think it’s also rebellion against the Nanny State. Someone who doesn’t inherently grasp that shining a laser at a plane, and potentially into the eyes of a pilot, is a bad idea needs a level of care that far exceeds “nannying.” > [@BigT](#): > > Of course they don’t know. Why would they? Are there any warnings on the packaging? > > I mean, these are toys used to make cats do silly things. You guys talk like this is common knowledge. > > I know I might have tried it. (I tried it on the moon once.) Now I won’t. It’s ridiculous to say that getting the information out there would not help. Ah. Well. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380/36 "2015-11-13T16:23:07Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > You honestly needed to be told not to shine a light in the eyes of a person piloting an aircraft? I can imagine idly wondering “how far away this thing will shine” and naively pointing it at a passing aircraft. But only at the underside, or something—not into the cockpit. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380/37 "2015-11-13T16:54:17Z")
[QUOTE=lieu] Yes, it was. Ironically the ad that popped up before I could watch it was _Blinds To Go_. [/QUOTE] I got an ad where everyone was wearing pirate-style eye patches. Coincidence, or is someone cherry-picking the ads for anything “blind” or eye-related? As for the original question, no, people do not understand that they shouldn’t point lasers at aircraft, just as they can’t understand not using a [lawn mower](http://m0.joe.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/06082738/hedgememe.jpg) to [trim hedges](http://img.memecdn.com/trimming-hedge-like-a-boss_o_2000741.jpg) and that the beverage they are about to enjoy is extremely hot. [QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] I can imagine idly wondering “how far away this thing will shine” and naively pointing it at a passing aircraft. But only at the underside, or something—not into the cockpit. [/QUOTE] Sure, but the aircraft has a ground speed in the range of about 200-600 miles per hour. How accurately can you track by hand that and not waver from the belly of the plane? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380/38 "2015-11-13T17:26:36Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Sure, but the aircraft has a ground speed in the range of about 200-600 miles per hour. How accurately can you track by hand that and not waver from the belly of the plane? I was going to make the same point; also that airliners are pretty small at altitude. But I have an idea that most incidents occur on final approach or takeoff, or involve helicopters, when the aircraft is a larger target. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380/39 "2015-11-13T18:11:16Z")
Many people also seem to think that laser beams don’t spread. IOW, they think the beam is 1/8" or whatever across when it leave the device and so therefore it’s still 1/8" or whatever in diameter when it gets to the target. WRONG. Lasers spread even in a vacuum, and do it more in an atmosphere. And even more in a hazy or smoky atmosphere. Yes, they spread much less than a conventional light beam formed by a conventional lens. But no, they don’t spread zero. At a couple miles distance the beam width is big enough that if you hit the tail, at least some of the edge energy is in the cockpit. Sure, the spot you might see at night isn’t that big, but the spot you see is NOT the size of the spot that hits. And more likely you’ll never see a spot on the aircraft at all. All you’ll be doing is waving this thing which has no real aiming sights in the approximate direction of the aircraft. Whether you hit the aircraft’s front, the back, the middle, or no place is essentially random. And with your wavering aim you may flash on and off the cockpit several times. I said in an earlier post that I think most incidents are stupidity or ignorance (or both) not malice. But that doesn’t detract from the actual serious hazard here, especially (but not exclusively) at night. Paradoxically, if the FAA & industry do get an aggressive and widespread public awareness and prosecution campaign going then we’ll see two effects. Firstly a decrease in total events as the clueless become cluefull. And secondly an increase in number of malicious events as gratuitously malicious people learn of a new way to be gratuitously malicious. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380/40 "2015-11-13T18:17:22Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Paradoxically, if the FAA & industry do get an aggressive and widespread public awareness and prosecution campaign going then we’ll see two effects. Firstly a decrease in total events as the clueless become cluefull. And secondly an increase in number of malicious events as gratuitously malicious people learn of a new way to be gratuitously malicious. People suck. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-just-not-understand-they-shouldnt-point-lasers-at-aircraft/737380.md?page=3)