[Laser] Laser Pointer Incident Forces Emergency Landing of USCG Surveillance Jet

[Patrick Schwarz - KB8RTZ]

Bernie, et al

The human eye is most sensitive in the green region of the spectrum. 
Even a low power green laser will affect vision. The refraction of the 
laser through the cockpit window likely created a speckle pattern as it 
reflected inside the cockpit. So the crew member who suffered temporary 
vision impairment likely took a direct speckled look at the laser.

And nowhere in the article does the USCG claim possible retinal damage 
to anybody. The crew member was likely taken to the emergency room as a 
precaution because of temporary vision loss.

On 11/30/2012 3:30 AM, bernieS wrote:
> Yes, the FAA and other agencies involved with aviation should take 
> this seriously for those reasons.  But for the USCG to publicly allege 
> possible retinal damage to a crew member of a jet plane by someone on 
> the ground pointing a handheld laser pointer at it--and making an 
> emergency landing to hospitalize that crew member who saw the 
> light--seems ludicrous based on the FAA's own educational materials 
> and other readily available optical health & safety info.  You'd think 
> they'd know science and stuff better.
>
> -bernieS
>
>
>
> At 09:42 PM 11/29/2012, John wrote:
>> Some laser pointers that are being sold today are not eye safe, 
>> especially
>> those in the green part of the spectrum.  In the worst case, the FAA is
>> concerned about eye safety, but more generally it's about distraction or
>> temporary dazzling of pilots and air crew.  The FAA and DoD take these
>> matters very seriously. Do a search under "Laser Clearinghouse".
>>
>> 73, John W1FV
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: laser-bounces at mailman.qth.net 
>> [mailto:laser-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
>> On Behalf Of bernieS
>> Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 3:32 PM
>> To: Laser Communications
>> Subject: [Laser] Laser Pointer Incident Forces Emergency Landing of USCG
>> Surveillance Jet
>>
>> While it could be a distraction to a jet crew member, how could a 
>> "handheld
>> laser pointer" beam that has diverged over a distance of many 
>> thousands of
>> feet to a jet flying overhead possibly cause any retinal damage, or 
>> require
>> an emergency landing and hospitalization of that crew member?
>>
>> Even this FAA/USAF video admits, "In the scenario of cockpit laser
>> illuminations, permanent physical damage to the eye is highly 
>> unlikely.  The
>> lasers involved in cockpit laser strikes, for the most part, will not 
>> cause
>> physical damage to the eye due to variables such as length of exposure,
>> intensity, and/or proximity."
>> http://www.laserpointersafety.com/page52/2009FAAvideo/2009FAAvideo.html
>>
>> It seems to me that government authorities continue to grossly 
>> misrepresent
>> the facts and actual risk of retinal damage in these laser pointer
>> incidents.  This could erroneously lead to crackdowns on amateur 
>> LASER DX
>> experimentation.
>>
>> -bernieS
>>
>>
>> http://www.hstoday.us/channels/us-coast-guard/single-article-page/laser-inci 
>>
>> dent-forces-emergency-landing-of-coast-guard-jet.html
>>
>> Laser Incident Forces Emergency Landing of Coast Guard Jet
>>
>> By: Mickey McCarter
>> 11/07/12
>>
>> A crew member onboard a US Coast Guard (USCG) HU-25 Guardian aircraft 
>> flying
>> over Portland, Texas was hospitalized after being struck in the eyes 
>> by a
>> handheld laser pointer, the agency said Tuesday.
>>
>> The Dassault Falcon 20 jet, manufactured by French company Dassault
>> Aviation, was forced to make an emergency landing Monday as it 
>> approached
>> Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi, the Coast Guard said. The Coast
>> Guard employs the medium-range surveillance aircraft for search and 
>> rescue,
>> illegal drug interdiction, environmental protection and other missions.
>>
>> "Whether this happened to our Coast Guard aircraft flying on a search 
>> and
>> rescue mission, a student Navy pilot just learning to fly, or an 
>> airliner
>> carrying a plane full of passengers, the public needs to be aware of the
>> dangers associated with pointing a laser at any aircraft," USCG Lt. 
>> Philip
>> Thisse, the commander of the affected aircraft, said in a statement.
>>
>> Thisse added, "The laser directly hit one of our crewmembers while
>> conducting an instrument approach and it filled the cockpit with a 
>> blinding
>> light. We had to conduct an emergency landing and one of our 
>> crewmembers was
>> sent to the Bay Area Emergency Room. Either malicious or just an
>> irresponsible act, lasing an aircraft poses a significant hazard to the
>> lives of aircrew and impacts our ability to respond to people in 
>> distress."
>>
>> The crewmember, who suffered "temporary vision impairment," is 
>> expected to
>> make a full recovery.
>>
>> The Coast Guard has faced a number of lasing incidents this year.
>> This was the third overall interference of air operations at Coast 
>> Guard Air
>> Station Corpus Christi since June.
>>
>> On Aug. 8, the Coast Guard reported a helicopter aircrew was blinded 
>> by a
>> green laser while conducting surveillance to uncover the source of 
>> emergency
>> flares near Garden City Beach, SC. That attack was the third in three 
>> weeks
>> experienced by USCG aircraft in the Grand Strand, a beach resort area
>> stretching from Little River, SC, to Georgetown, SC.
>>
>> USCG Sector Charleston sent a boat from Coast Guard Station 
>> Georgetown to
>> carry on the search after the helicopter was forced to land around 
>> 1:45am
>> that morning. As the boat was not as fast as the helicopter, the 
>> search was
>> delayed for about two hours.
>>
>> Lasing incidents in the Grand Strand have numbered so high that the 
>> Coast
>> Guard has deemed it "very high risk."
>>
>> Congress acted this year to officially criminalize lasing attacks on
>> government and commercial aircraft. Section 311 of the Federal Aviation
>> Administration (FAA) Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (Public Law
>> 112-95), signed by President Barack Obama on Feb. 14, made it a federal
>> offense to aim a laser pointer at an aircraft in US airspace. 
>> Offenders face
>> a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in prison.
>>
>> The FAA reported a 902 percent increase in lasing incidents from 2005 to
>> 2011.

-- 
73...Patrick...