Hard Time For Man Who Fired Laser Pointer At CHP Aircraft

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"It just shot upward from my pocket and hit the plane!" Sadly, that reasoning did not fly with law enforcement and the Fresno-area man is now looking at six months in prison for repeatedly hitting a California Highway Patrol aircraft multiple times. The laser used is capable of firing at 200 milliwatts at a range of 6,000 feet and setting small objects alight at short-range.

"I keep thinking this offense was committed by a 12-year-old. But it was not," US District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill told defendant Jeremy Scott Danielson during the Monday sentencing hearing, according to a statement sent to Ars. "You could have brought the CHP plane down by blinding the pilot. You jeopardized their eyes and their safety." Despite the judge's claim, a plane has never been brought down due to a laser strike. However, for more than a decade, federal authorities have been concerned that terrorists or other ne'er-do-wells might try to. Under the Obama administration, federal penalties for laser strikes have been strengthened.
 
I highly doubt the whole "blinding" thing. Not like these things are super high power or that the pilot wouldn't look away instantly. Anyone have any links that prove instant blinding/damage? And from miles away
 
I bet if he was honest it might of been a lesser penalty, maybe just community service or similar. Though, 6 months for pointing a laser at a plane? That is a little ridiculous.
 
Rustynuts said:
I highly doubt the whole "blinding" thing. Not like these things are super high power or that the pilot wouldn't look away instantly. Anyone have any links that prove instant blinding/damage? And from miles away
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The threshold for where lasers are regulated is where they can cause damage in the exposure time presented by normal human reactions. Class 3r is where that hazard begins and that's limited to 5mw. This duche nozzle was at 200 mw. By a strict reading of the law, that could be viewed as assault with a deadly weapon in many states, as that includes the reasonable threat of being maimed or crippled. Yeah, it won't be lights out, but it can fuck up your vision permanently past that threshold. He was WAY past. Depending on the spectrum, it could have been quite dangerous. If you want to doubt that, lets hold you down and break out a 200 mw laser to get some empirical evidence? No?

As for it not blinding people, it's still dangerous. It's bright enough that you WILL have a glare reflex, and that makes it hard to keep proper control of an aircraft. I know a few pilots and it's a real and increasingly frequent issue. That can be a threat to the pilot, passengers, and anyone they fly over. Having had my home missed by a few hundred feet multiple times over the years by having fucktards regularly ignore FAA rules, yeah shit falls out of the sky sometimes when you fuck with the margins. Assholes with laser pointers need to stop fucking with the margins.
 
When it comes to things like planes, it us far better to err on the side of caution than to make a regulation after the fact. Also, lasers, by virtue of being lasers, do not significantly lose power and intensity over distance the same way a flashlight does.
 
raz-0 said:
The threshold for where lasers are regulated is where they can cause damage in the exposure time presented by normal human reactions. Class 3r is where that hazard begins and that's limited to 5mw. This duche nozzle was at 200 mw. By a strict reading of the law, that could be viewed as assault with a deadly weapon in many states, as that includes the reasonable threat of being maimed or crippled. Yeah, it won't be lights out, but it can fuck up your vision permanently past that threshold. He was WAY past. Depending on the spectrum, it could have been quite dangerous. If you want to doubt that, lets hold you down and break out a 200 mw laser to get some empirical evidence? No?

As for it not blinding people, it's still dangerous. It's bright enough that you WILL have a glare reflex, and that makes it hard to keep proper control of an aircraft. I know a few pilots and it's a real and increasingly frequent issue. That can be a threat to the pilot, passengers, and anyone they fly over. Having had my home missed by a few hundred feet multiple times over the years by having fucktards regularly ignore FAA rules, yeah shit falls out of the sky sometimes when you fuck with the margins. Assholes with laser pointers need to stop fucking with the margins.
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Distance is a MAJOR factor in permanent eye damage from a laser. At a height of 6000 feet, there was no danger of permanent eye damage of any reasonable amount. It would be impossibly for him to focus it onto the pilots eyes for any amount of time resulting in damage. i have a 100mw laser and it's only capable of permanent eye damage based on NOHD of 47 meters.

Laser safety - Nominal Ocular Hazard Distance and Area
 
Is it really this easy to bring planes down? I feel like this would be happening more often
 
Rustynuts said:
I highly doubt the whole "blinding" thing. Not like these things are super high power or that the pilot wouldn't look away instantly. Anyone have any links that prove instant blinding/damage? And from miles away
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Go choke yourself. I've had a few incidents on both takeoff and landing (private pilot, single engine Cirrus) and twice almost ate shit because of idiots like this. 1st time I had (bad) a reflex just as I was lifting from the runway and slammed the plane down at full throttle with less than 1/3 of the runway to work with. Ended up causing damage to two landing gear struts and damaged the prop. Second time I was landing and was lit up with two beams. I had to finish the landing because I was already bingo fuel. Again, damaged the landing gear because I set down WAY too hard because I couldn't see jack shit from two green lasers strobing my cockpit/field of view. Helicopters at my airport are also a popular target, god forbid one of those gets lit up and the pilot happens to jerk the controls...someone will die.

I wear laser safety glasses if I happen to be flying in the late afternoon/night now. It doesn't help with the vision obscuring, but at least I have (some) protection for my eyes.
 
I think this guy deserves the hard time... once while on vacation in Mexico some dumbass would shine a laser from a porch at people on the beach during the evening / night. It was completely distracting and ruined the time on the beach.

I cannot imagine the difficulty flying an aircraft when being lasered.

Punishment should be the prison sentence and allow the lasered pilot a few free kicks to the balls.
 
jbltecnicspro said:
But can they prove intent? :D
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The fact he beamed the aircraft multiple times at a range of 6000ft is a strong indication of intent. Not buying the "It went off in my pocket." excuse the other guy claimed either. If I am carrying a gun and it goes off and shoots someone, I am responsible even if I didn't mean to hurt anyone, Hillary defense notwithstanding.
 
Rustynuts said:
I highly doubt the whole "blinding" thing. Not like these things are super high power or that the pilot wouldn't look away instantly. Anyone have any links that prove instant blinding/damage? And from miles away
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Perhaps you should lower the height of your doubts just a little :D

How the US Quietly Field Tests 'Blinding' Laser Weapons

In 1995 the United Nations banned "Blinding Laser Weapons," which the adopted protocol defined as "laser weapons specifically designed, as their sole combat function or as one of their combat functions, to cause permanent blindness to unenhanced vision"
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And as for your idea that it would be easy to just look away to avoid damage;

Lasers that were supposed to temporarily blind were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan by both American and British troops, with somewhat spotty results. Wired reported that in 2009 an American soldier “was blinded in one eye and three others required medical evacuation out of Iraq in a series of laser 'friendly fire' incidents,” which highlights just how difficult it is to use the lasers
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Once you reach the Class 4 laser level you are passed the point of just being able to look away.

stacks_image_1.png

These are legal for an individual to purchase and operate without training or license/permit.
 
I got nailed by a high power green laser as I drove my car around a lake. The laser came in through the left driverside window. They didn't train it on my car for long, but it was very bright. I estimate the people with the laser were 1/2 mile away.
 
What I don't understand is how they find the douchenozzles who point the lasers at planes after they do it.


Do they just stand there and keep doing it until the cops show up?
 
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w00t69 said:
Distance is a MAJOR factor in permanent eye damage from a laser. At a height of 6000 feet, there was no danger of permanent eye damage of any reasonable amount. It would be impossibly for him to focus it onto the pilots eyes for any amount of time resulting in damage. i have a 100mw laser and it's only capable of permanent eye damage based on NOHD of 47 meters.

Laser safety - Nominal Ocular Hazard Distance and Area
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And you are assuming that the pilot and any other officers couldn't have been using either night vision or other vision enhancement devices that would have increased the risk of damage?

The officer found that the laser was marked with "Laser 301," meaning a model capable of firing at 200 milliwatts at a range of 6,000 feet and even setting small objects alight at short-range.
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Read again buddy, the plane wasn't at a distance of 6000' and this laser was rated at a power of 200 milliwatts at a range of 6000' meaning that it is that strong at that distance, not "out of the lens".

Fortunately you can gain so much more information about the specifics when you take the time to look into them.

Gov Uscourts Caed 277230 1 0

I D. Facts in Support of Probable Cause Determination
5. On September 21, 2014, at 12:55 am,1 during routine patrol, California Highway Patrol (CHP) aircraft Air 43 had just taken off from the Fresno-Yosemite International Airport and was
climbing to flying altitude between the airport and downtown Fresno when it was struck through the left side pilot window With a green laser approximately .six times at an altitude of approximately 4,001 to
- 5,0001 feet above ground. level. The beam of light caused CHP Offcer/Pilot Brian Laret to experience temporary ?ash blindness. Due to the intensity of the green light which illuminated the cockpit, Pilot
Lare't had to orient the aircraft to try to block the beam from entering the windows, in order to maintain control of the aircraft. Flight Officer Ryan Kunkel experienced watering eyes and irritation as a result of
the laser strike.
Click to expand...
 
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Fuck that guy, he's getting what he deserved. Conversely fuck highway patrol aircrafts that are out there as just a floating speed trap. Not that they deserve to be blinded or killed in a fiery crash.
 
Supposedly, all else equal, green lasers are less likely to permanently damage vision compared to red, but will cause temporary blindness. The army actually used weapon mounted ones, called dazzlers, that are slightly unfocused (in order to make a larger impact area for aiming and reduce the eye damage) to use on vehicles that try to run through checkpoints in Iraq, prior to using lethal force and opening fire.
 
I have a laser that's IIIb 635nm so it's red/less than 500mW. It runs off 12v, is housed in a tube with a cooling fan built in, and it can reach out there. We've taken it out in the country and pointed it at stuff a long ways off, it'll get there. I'd never point it at a plane. I like to point it up into snow falling, that's pretty neat.
 
6 month sentence is way too short. I can just imagine an A380 going down because both pilots were blinded by laser. That would be awful.
 
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Zarathustra[H] said:
What I don't understand is how they find the douchenozzles who point the lasers at planes after they do it.


Do they just stand there and keep doing it until the cops show up?
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Well, I could explain it to you. But then someone in a black truck would take me away to that special place.
 
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Dullard said:
I have a laser that's IIIb 635nm so it's red/less than 500mW. It runs off 12v, is housed in a tube with a cooling fan built in, and it can reach out there. We've taken it out in the country and pointed it at stuff a long ways off, it'll get there. I'd never point it at a plane. I like to point it up into snow falling, that's pretty neat.
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I did the snow and the fog. Then I realized I didn't know what was beyond the snow and the fog and I didn't know how much farther that beam was going. It's also good for pointing out stars and planets, but again - know what is out there...
 
scojer said:
I bet if he was honest it might of been a lesser penalty, maybe just community service or similar. Though, 6 months for pointing a laser at a plane? That is a little ridiculous.
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As a pilot I wish it was a worse penalty. The two most dangerous times are when these nozzles are likely to light up the cockpit: takeoff and landing.

You know, some days I wonder if anyone who supports lesser penalties would like to be in an aircraft where the pilot is laser flashed on final. Many small aircraft do not have the capability for push button straight-and-level and go around. Plus you still have to cleanup the aircraft (flaps, gear) for the missed approach/go around.
 
"It just shot upward from my pocket and hit the plane!"

...and tracked the plane long enough for CHP to find him. That's an excuse from an 11 yr old. Shakes head.
 
This reminds me of a story one of my dads friends told him. He is a Swede and was deployed on the ground in Yugoslavia in the 90's as a U.N. peace keeper. It was right as the U.S. bombing started. They were out in the forest and the guys were chatting amongst themselves. "Those planes are flying awfully low, I wonder just how far up they are?"

Before he could even finish his sentence, one of his idiot friends grabbed his laser range finder to find out.

What followed was a series of evasive maneuvers and what I presume (from reading Tom Clancy as a kid) were "chaffs". :oops:
 
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Zarathustra[H] said:
What I don't understand is how they find the douchenozzles who point the lasers at planes after they do it.


Do they just stand there and keep doing it until the cops show up?
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Considering thats exactly what they are doing before the cops show up, I'm pretty sure thats what they'd be doing when the cops show up.
 
Derangel said:
The one in the Mall of America has surprisingly good food. At least it did the one time I went there.
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I'm sort of a liberal lesbian in a mans body, and my wife would kick me in the walnuts for such hypocrisy.
 
DrLobotomy said:
I'm sort of a liberal lesbian in a mans body, and my wife would kick me in the walnuts for such hypocrisy.
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Heh. Amusingly it was a friend's girlfriend that suggested the place when a few of us were up there. This was 12 years ago, I don't even know if it's still there anymore. Can't tell you a thing about the waitresses, but I remember the shrimp. I never forget good shrimp.
 
Derangel said:
Heh. Amusingly it was a friend's girlfriend that suggested the place when a few of us were up there. This was 12 years ago, I don't even know if it's still there anymore. Can't tell you a thing about the waitresses, but I remember the shrimp. I never forget good shrimp.
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Yea, hard to forget good ocean crawdads, if they are fried. I'm a seafood heathen and prefer it all fried.
 
How it really went. Scenario : sitting out back on fold up metal chairs w/ a cooler full of beer and friends alongside. "Dood, check out what came in the mail today. A GREEN LASER! Lets try to hit some airplanes flying by!".
 
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