more lasers

[N C More]

Now, the FBI is involved. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6815872/)

[Wolverine]

I wonder if the further incidents reflect "copycat" behavior due to all the media coverage.

[Doodler]

I wonder if the further incidents reflect "copycat" behavior due to all the media coverage.

Wouldn't surprise me. :evil:

[Gullible Jones]

Yep, people tend to be a bunch of uncaring jerks.

If someone suffering from clinical depression is about to jump off a roof or out of a window, the crowd below will encourage them... Similarly, if people hear on the news that lasers can be used to down aircraft, they'll try it out themselves.

It's not really all that surprising, IMO, but it is still disgusting. :evil:

Edit: Oh yeah, and I have to go on a cruise in April - which of course means flying down to Miami (give Brite my greetings, guys). Nice to know that at least one moron on the ground will probably try to blind the pilot. :roll:

[Sammy]

I find it hard to conceive how this could be happening. An airliner on a landing path is making over 100 knots. If you visualize the design of most commercial aircraft, the cockpit windshield (windscreen in the UK) is set back from, and above, the nose. Someone ahead of the plane could not hit the windshield unless they were level with the plane, or if the plane was in a fairly steep nose-down attitude (which I do not think is the normal profile).

If the "shooter" is abeam the plane, he/she has to hit a small side window apeture moving at a right angle, which maximizes the speed.

Sounds pretty tought to me. Glom, or any other aviators out there with observations/thoughts on this?

[mickal555]

I remember having a discussion before about this..

[mickal555]

aha!
http://www.badastronomy.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=375127#375127

there is a bit of a discussion if you keep reading....

[sarongsong]

"...There had been 400 such incidents since 1990..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4170005.stm
Optics consultant Michael Fulton (http://www.ionbeamoptics.com/) addressed this on C2C Wednesday night: Possible defenses are special-optical coating plane windows (remember the passengers, too) and coating pilots' eyeglasses/contact lenses...beams entering the cockpit can bounce around and reflect off other surfaces...some lasers are capable of damaging eyes without the person immediately being aware of it.