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SALT LAKE CITY — University of Utah Health officials are warning against pointing lasers at aircraft after two AirMed helicopter crews were hit by lasers twice in the last few weeks in the Sugar House area, temporarily blinding one crew member.
A laser strike is when someone on the ground shines a laser up into the air at a flying aircraft. It's an act that can have significant consequences, according to Frankie Toon, AirMed program manager.
Both AirMed laser strikes hit the same aircraft during the same shift, Toone said. The first one caused distractions for the crew members, but each of them was able to look away and was not injured. During the second strike, a medical crew member who was hit in the eye and had a period of temporary blindness received treatment at an emergency room.
The injured crew member dealt with blurry peripheral vision through one eye for a week after the event and has since recovered, Toon said.
"Fortunately, no injuries were reported to patients during either of these flights, but these laser pointers are extremely dangerous to both AirMed staff and passengers," a U. Health press release said.
Toon said that the incident was during a critical point in the flight pattern. She said she wants to raise awareness about how dangerous these incidents can be, especially during a critical phase, for patients, team members and the community.
When it is dark outside, lights in the air can be particularly distracting and can impair vision temporarily or permanently.
"If we're coming in for a landing and something like that happens to a pilot, it can disorient their vision, their instrumentation, what they're doing at that time, and cause a distraction that could cause them to not be able to land the aircraft safely," Toon said.
After this incident, the AirMed program is looking into specialized visors that would stop a laser from penetrating the eyes of the crew and work to deflect the lasers. The crew member who was hurt recently was wearing night-vision goggles, which do protect against lasers, but the laser came from the side and the goggles did not sufficiently protect the eyes.
Toon said that these incidents are happening more frequently than they did 10 to 15 years ago because more people have access to lasers. In this instance, she said that it was a large laser directly pointed at the cockpit of the helicopter, but laser strikes with even a small presentation laser can be just as dangerous.
The Federal Aviation Administration reported 6,852 laser strikes in 2020; it has not yet released the total for 2021. Pointing a laser at an aircraft is a federal offense. After a laser strike happens, the crew typically tries to get GPS coordinates of the laser to send to the FAA. In this recent instance, the crew members were focused instead on caring for a patient, though they did use flight tracking to determine the general area the laser came from and sent that information in after the patient was taken safely to the hospital.
"That's where our focus should be, is directly on the patient and care whenever there is a patient on board. So this is just really an unneeded distraction and a hazard that could be totally preventable if people would just not do this," Toon said.
In this instance, she said that it seems that someone heard the aircraft and pointed a laser in that direction intentionally, and then did it again when they heard the aircraft again. The second strike is the one that caused the injury.
Toon said that for the most part, it is probably someone who is playing around with a laser and is not intentionally trying to impair an aircraft, but that either way there can be catastrophic outcomes.
"People need to be aware that it's not a game, that sometimes these toys can be dangerous, especially in our operations," Toon said.
