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SALT LAKE CITY — It's a federal crime to aim a laser pointer at an aircraft, but people keep doing it in rising numbers.
Wednesday night a news helicopter in New York was targeted, along with 19 other aircraft nationwide, according to documents.
It may seem like harmless play to whoever is holding the laser pointer but the flash of light can be distracting and even dangerous for the pilot in the cockpit. Flash a simple handheld laser on a windshield and the inside lights up.
"If it's just striking exterior surfaces of the aircraft, (there's) not really much (harm)," said Chopper 5 pilot Ben Tidswell. "But if the laser gets pointed into somebody's face, specifically the eye area, you could be temporarily blinded."
If you're temporarily blinded driving down I-15, that's not safe, and it's not safe for pilots, either, he said.
"If you're not sure where you are in the air because you've lost your vision, all of a sudden you could fly out of control and crash," Tidswell said.
Laser reportedly aimed at SkyWest flight to Salt Lake City
Officials are investigating reports that someone aimed a laser pointer at a SkyWest airliner flying into Salt Lake City from Los Angeles.Nationwide, reports of laser strikes to the FAA rose from nearly 300 in 2005, to nearly 3,000 in 2010, to more than 5,000 laser incidents through mid-October this year.
In Utah, there has been a rise from 36 laser strikes in 2010 to 82 through mid-October this year.
"What I hear is that it's mostly commercial airliners that get struck, predominately when they're coming in from the south end of the valley," Tidswell said.
A Utah National Guard Apache pilot was flashed at the south end of the valley seven years ago. He helped police track down the culprit, who was federally charged.
"Everybody who has a laser pointer needs to take a breath and stop doing stupid stuff. Stop pointing lasers at aircraft," Tidswell said.
Pointing a laser at a plane is a felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
