SIX aircraft flying into Sydney Airport have been hit in a co-ordinated attack by blinding green lights in what safety officials say is the city's worst laser attack.
Air traffic controllers closed the approach flight path and diverted incoming aircraft to a different runway on Friday night, forcing some flights to land up to half an hour late.
Cpd From Australia, joined Jun 2008, 243 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (9 months 1 week 6 days 18 hours ago) and read 2313 times:
It was in the "Sunday Terrorgraph" today as well.
This basically equates to attempted murder, or terrorism, because that is what it is. And worse, it makes the public even more suspicious of us photographers who like taking pictures of planes.
I can see the complaints already, "Oh, there is a strange person lurking around near the airport with some sort of large thing that looks like a rocket launcher or something else dangerous - they should be arrested, they might shoot down a plane!"
I don't know what kind of people go around doing things like this, maybe it is teenagers with too much time on their hands and not enough maturity, or maybe it is a coordinated attack by criminals.
Airnewzealand From New Zealand, joined Oct 2000, 2450 posts, RR: 3 Reply 2, posted (9 months 1 week 6 days 18 hours ago) and read 2271 times:
Quoting Cpd (Reply 1): can see the complaints already, "Oh, there is a strange person lurking around near the airport with some sort of large thing that looks like a rocket launcher or something else dangerous - they should be arrested, they might shoot down a plane!"
Funny you should say that, I recently had a passenger frantically pressing their call bell on take off...When the seatbelt sign went off i approached her and asked if everything was ok. She told me their were a few men on the beach with "long black tube like things"...I said to her...do you think it was a camera lens...she replied "maybe", i assured her that these things happen everyday and they were aircraft spotters getting photos of the aircraft. Nothing to worry about. Was quite funny actually, but then again, she was seriously scared!
Analog From United States, joined Jul 2006, 1900 posts, RR: 1 Reply 3, posted (9 months 1 week 6 days 16 hours ago) and read 2110 times:
Perhaps it's worth considering putting a 532nm bandstop/notch filter on cockpit windows; then misguided fools, half-@ssed terrorists, and confused amateur astronomers could continue to use their laser pointers.
Concentriq From United States, joined Jan 2005, 359 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (9 months 1 week 6 days 6 hours ago) and read 1617 times:
Quoting Analog (Reply 3): Perhaps it's worth considering putting a 532nm bandstop/notch filter on cockpit windows; then misguided fools, half-@ssed terrorists, and confused amateur astronomers could continue to use their laser pointers.
While tis not a bad idea, and fairly easy to deploy on entire fleet (a film of sort that is applied to all cockpit windows), but to properly implement it you'd need to filter out few other freq's just to be sure.. Im not sure FAA and their foreign counterparts would ever go for it. Just try doing anything to your cars front windshield, and see what happens!
That also raises an interesting question: is cockpit window any different from car windshield? is it multilayered? does it have lead/other means of protecting from radiation present at higher altitudes?
DocLightning From United States, joined Nov 2005, 3650 posts, RR: 13 Reply 6, posted (9 months 1 week 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 1495 times:
Quoting Analog (Reply 3): Perhaps it's worth considering putting a 532nm bandstop/notch filter on cockpit windows; then misguided fools, half-@ssed terrorists, and confused amateur astronomers could continue to use their laser pointers.
The only thing is that these are visible frequencies. It could be a safety issue if you make it difficult to see, say, red or green lights.
Phoenix9 From Canada, joined Aug 2007, 644 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (9 months 1 week 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 1465 times:
IMHO the media should not publicise these events....yes they are dangerous for pilots and landing aircraft...but I think listening to these kind of reports will put the idea into idle brains that have nothing better to do...and some of them may just go try for the fun of it.
I complained to God I have no shoes....until I saw the man who had no feet!
DocLightning From United States, joined Nov 2005, 3650 posts, RR: 13 Reply 8, posted (9 months 1 week 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 1445 times:
Quoting Phoenix9 (Reply 7): IMHO the media should not publicise these events....yes they are dangerous for pilots and landing aircraft...but I think listening to these kind of reports will put the idea into idle brains that have nothing better to do...and some of them may just go try for the fun of it.
Oh, it's a common problem. I'll never forget the local news channel here basically giving teenagers instructions on how to crush up a prescription pill and snort it.
Analog From United States, joined Jul 2006, 1900 posts, RR: 1 Reply 9, posted (9 months 1 week 6 days 4 hours ago) and read 1331 times:
Quoting DocLightning (Reply 6): The only thing is that these are visible frequencies. It could be a safety issue if you make it difficult to see, say, red or green lights.
I wonder if these could be made large enough for cockpit windows without being too heavy. You could just issue glasses/goggles with the filter, but it would be bad if the notch included the green LED wavelengths (532nm notch filters seem to not block the 550nm+ green LED wavelengths).
ATA1011Tristar From United States, joined Sep 2005, 60 posts, RR: 0 Reply 10, posted (9 months 1 week 5 days 18 hours ago) and read 554 times:
Hi Everyone!
Laser pointers are very powerful and focused, but where does a camera's flash figure into the equation of pilot distractions? Would a pilot even notice such a thing? It seems like a camera flash would be no worse than a glare off a car windshield.
Analog From United States, joined Jul 2006, 1900 posts, RR: 1 Reply 11, posted (9 months 1 week 5 days 18 hours ago) and read 534 times:
Quoting ATA1011Tristar (Reply 10): Laser pointers are very powerful and focused, but where does a camera's flash figure into the equation of pilot distractions? Would a pilot even notice such a thing? It seems like a camera flash would be no worse than a glare off a car windshield.
I can't see how a camera flash would be an issue, except being a good indicator of "stupid photographer located here".
I wonder about the real danger posed by laser pointers. Given the distance to the pilot's eye and the divergence of the beam, I don't see how they can do any real physical harm, outside of the serious danger posed by the immediate disorientation.
I wrote something about this in a thread a while back (too lazy to find it now).
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