# NJ man shines laser in cockpit, blames kid. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 4, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074 "2005-01-04T19:16:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![High\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8797f3/32.png) [@High\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/High_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074/1 "2005-01-04T19:16:26Z")
[I think I’m going to throw up now.](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,143288,00.html) > [@](#): > > Banach told the agents it was his daughter who shined a beam at the helicopter, according to court papers. He denied the laser was in use when the jet had passed nearby. But later, Banach submitted to a lie detector test and eventually said he shined the laser beam at both aircraft, according to the court papers. > > \ > > On Wednesday night, a pilot preparing to land a chartered jet with 13 people aboard reported seeing three green laser beams about 11 miles from the airport. On Friday, a helicopter carrying Port Authority detectives was hit by a beam as they surveyed the area in an attempt to pinpoint the origin of the original beams. What a champ! He endangers hundreds of persons lives (possibly even someone you know), blames it on his daughter and gives the FBI a fucking glide-slope to his position. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074/2 "2005-01-04T19:25:05Z")
The guy is a moron, no doubt, but spare me this blinding pilots with lasers bullshit fearmongering. ---
**Author:** ![High\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8797f3/32.png) [@High\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/High_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074/3 "2005-01-04T19:40:46Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > The guy is a moron, no doubt, but spare me this blinding pilots with lasers bullshit fearmongering. Right, right. I agree. It’s the newest, keenest terrorist trap designed to ground commercial aircraft prematurely. When laser-scare 2k5 first broke, I thought they meant that terrorists would use a laser for guided munitions. Turns out they are afraid of the same laser pointer my professors used in class. I hate to say this; but give the terrorists a bit more credit. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074/4 "2005-01-04T19:43:58Z")
> [@High Cheese](#): > > Right, right. I agree. It’s the newest, keenest terrorist trap designed to ground commercial aircraft prematurely. When laser-scare 2k5 first broke, I thought they meant that terrorists would use a laser for guided munitions. Turns out they are afraid of the same laser pointer my professors used in class. I hate to say this; but give the terrorists a bit more credit. It turns out that they couldn’t even get lasers. They had to resort to ill-tempered, mutated sea bass. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074/5 "2005-01-04T19:48:51Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > They had to resort to ill-tempered, mutated sea bass. Without the frikin’ laser beams attached to their heads? Who is going to be afraid of that? ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074/6 "2005-01-04T19:52:56Z")
Back to the OP though, blaiming your daughter has to go down in history as one of the punkest moves in history. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074/7 "2005-01-04T19:59:55Z")
Watered down lasers distributing sea bass is no basis for a system of terrorism. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074/8 "2005-01-04T20:05:48Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > The guy is a moron, no doubt, but spare me this blinding pilots with lasers bullshit fearmongering. I think it’s Banach who’s enabling the fearmongers here. “See? Someone shined a laser into a cockpit and was prosecuted for it! That means it’s dangerous! And if it’s dangerous, the terrorists are going to do it and WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!!” ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074/9 "2005-01-04T20:12:53Z")
Just a thought - maybe his daughter _did_ do it, and he changed his story to protect her. The article says he took a lie detector test, but it doesn’t say he _failed_ it. Probably not, but it is possible. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074/10 "2005-01-04T20:25:00Z")
Wow. That’s _low_. ---
**Author:** ![Jadis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@Jadis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jadis)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074/11 "2005-01-04T20:32:17Z")
It said in both articles that I read that the pilots were temporarily blinded by the flashes. Why are people calling this issue “bullshit fearmongering”? You don’t think blinding pilots in flight isn’t just the slightest bit of a bad idea? ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074/12 "2005-01-04T20:32:45Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > The guy is a moron, no doubt, but spare me this blinding pilots with lasers bullshit fearmongering. > [@Rilchiam](#): > > I think it’s Banach who’s enabling the fearmongers here. “See? Someone shined a laser into a cockpit and was prosecuted for it! That means it’s dangerous! And if it’s dangerous, the terrorists are going to do it and WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!!” Lasers are a [known problem](http://www.ltjackdaly.com/articles/Pat%20Barnes_101199.htm) for pilots. Russia undoubtedly has more advanced laser tech than most people, but due to the wavelength, your standard [green laser pointer](http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/lights/5a47/) is a class IIIa laser, which according to [this rating chart](http://www.fretlord.com/lasers_classes.htm) means it has the capability to damage your eye. (Notwithstanding the fact that I doubt you could reliably do the most critical part of _your_ job if I was flashing a laser at you). The man is indeed a dumbass. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074/13 "2005-01-04T20:48:24Z")
> [@Jadis](#): > > You don’t think blinding pilots in flight isn’t just the slightest bit of a bad idea? Personally I don’t think it’s really possible. Even if it is, I think we have about 6,945,765 more realistic methods in which “terrorists” could cause mayhem. A person has at most a 10 second window (from a mile or two away) to shine a _pinpoint_ light at an object moving at least 150 mph, which is behind reflecting glass and is the size of dime? (pupils are smaller then a dime, but you get the idea.) It’s a one in a billion shot at best. Americans watch too many Hollywood movies. Any attack from OBL and his ilk will be very low tech. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074/14 "2005-01-04T20:52:07Z")
What I want to know is how does a laser beam, from the ground get into the pilots eyes? Here is a picture of a [Boing 757](http://www.shanaberger.com/airlines/american_b757.jpg). As you can see, the cockpit is above the nose of the airplane. A laser would have to be coming at the plane from a great distance away in order to even make it into the cockpit, and the odds of sustained contact with a pilots eyes seems pretty remote to me. ---
**Author:** ![Jadis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@Jadis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jadis)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074/15 "2005-01-04T20:53:49Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > It’s a one in a billion shot at best. Except that the pilots DID say that they were temporarily blinded by the laser. Not permantly, which I’m guessing is what would be the billion in one pinpoint lineup of the laser to the pupil, but from this case alone, the danger is clearly NOT some figment of someone’s imagination. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074/16 "2005-01-04T20:58:18Z")
I have a very difficult time believing that any danger existed. The probability of aiming a laser directly into someone’s eye from such a distance seems virtually zero. Another one of “those things we have to think of differently since 9/11\*” \*9/11 is a registered trademark of George W. Bush ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074/17 "2005-01-04T21:08:49Z")
> [@Jadis](#): > > Except that the pilots DID say that they were temporarily blinded by the laser. Not permantly, which I’m guessing is what would be the billion in one pinpoint lineup of the laser to the pupil, but from this case alone, the danger is clearly NOT some figment of someone’s imagination. What you have to understand, **Jadis** , is that some minor functionary once stuck a review of this thing in a monthly bulletin about terrorism. That he or she said that there wasn’t any evidence that it was terrorists doing it is of course wholly irrelevant. What is relevant is that the functionary works for the FBI at a time when the government’s principal executive officer is OMGBUSHCOH4LLI8URT0n!!!11!!ELEVEN!!!, which renders any concerns about this phenomenon incorrect and of suspect movtives. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074/18 "2005-01-04T21:12:19Z")
I have the same questions as **adam yax**? How on earth did this guy do it? You mean a dimestore laser pointer can be seen from that far away? Or did the perp have something better? ---
**Author:** ![Jadis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@Jadis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jadis)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074/19 "2005-01-04T21:12:26Z")
> [@manhattan](#): > > What you have to understand, **Jadis** , is that some minor functionary once stuck a review of this thing in a monthly bulletin about terrorism. That he or she said that there wasn’t any evidence that it was terrorists doing it is of course wholly irrelevant. What is relevant is that the functionary works for the FBI at a time when the government’s principal executive officer is OMGBUSHCOH4LLI8URT0n!!!11!!ELEVEN!!!, which renders any concerns about this phenomenon incorrect and of suspect movtives. I stand corrected, then. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074/20 "2005-01-04T22:04:18Z")
I, too, am having a lot of trouble getting my mind around a civilian with a laser pointer hitting a pilot in the eye from several thousand feet away. I’d like to see empirical proof that this is possible. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nj-man-shines-laser-in-cockpit-blames-kid/283074.md?page=2)