Laser Pen alert!
People have been arrested in the United States for pointing laser pens at Aircrafts. Such an act not only forces the aircraft to come to a halt, abort missions but can also be dangerous and send the pilot in panic mode.
Can a Laser light reach a Plane?
Laser beams, people think, do not reach that far a height but actually they do and aircraft pilots can well identify them. Even a very weak beam can be a big distraction for a pilot.
Also, if one points a laser beam at an aircraft, it is also easy for the pilots to tell the ground police as to where the beam is coming from; making arrests easy.
Why is pointing Laser at Aircraft dangerous?
A laser pen projects a small beam, but at longer distance the beam is much larger. The beam spreads in width and when the beam falls on the windscreen of a cockpit, imperfections on the glass spread out the beam even more. This makes it more difficult for the pilot to fly. Sometimes strong beams can cause eye damage or even eye injuries to the pilots.
Distraction, glare and flash blindness are the charges one would be responsible of if they flash a laser pen beam on an aircraft.