Laser pointers and aircraft.

[Bob Maxey]

See the funny thing is, they don't. If they are flying at a 0 degree angle or even anything less than 45 degrees, they will not see the ground directly in front or below them. And like I said, the glass would absorb the laser.

People in the industry? Right, tell me what you do? I only help design, test, and manufacture airplanes at Lockheed Martin, so I'm sure I know nothing about this

Look, I do not know if you are designer with LM or not, but since pilots have reported problems, and since the FAA has specific laws (and imposes serious fines) against this sort of thing, obviously there is a potential for trouble.

 

[RottnJP]

See the funny thing is, they don't. If they are flying at a 0 degree angle or even anything less than 45 degrees, they will not see the ground directly in front or below them. And like I said, the glass would absorb the laser.

People in the industry? Right, tell me what you do? I only help design, test, and manufacture airplanes at Lockheed Martin, so I'm sure I know nothing about this

O.K., so you are not speaking from ignorance- You have an educated incorrect opinion- Congratulations...

Seriously, you're not going to try and argue that pilots don't look at the ground during flight, are you? They drop some blinds and go on IFR the whole time? And then for landing, they just let the auto-pilot take it, right?

I'll cut you some slack on the canopy thing though if you work for LMT- I'm going to guess you may be more familiar with military product lines than commercial. Military canopies do have some protection from lasers- As I said, Soviet trawlers and bomber crews have used such things for many years on our aircrews, long before 9-11. I'd guess they still do, although I'm not in that side of the business right now. Even military canopies aren't "safe" though, just safer. (And of course the Sov- er, "Russians"- aren't using laser pointers to do it, either. A run of the mill eye-safe laser pointer may not be an issue at all for .mil)

But commercial canopies have much less protection. Bubble glass, like on many rotary wing craft, is the worst, and of course police and traffic helicopters typically have windows down low for observation, so they are pretty much screwed. And yes, run of the mill laser pointers are enough to be a pain in the butt, especially the green ones.

 

[Saltine713]

True, I only though of commercial airliners, not smaller aircraft and helicopters. That would be an issue with them.

 

[mikedt]

I presume the argument about whether lasers reflect off glass and types of aircraft is academic. The FAA have already stated "Shining a laser into the cockpit of an aircraft is a serious safety risk and violates federal law", i.e. it's dangerous and is a felony. So anyone caught shining laser pointers at aircraft will most likely end up in jail....end of.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7686514.stm
"The captain of a cargo plane from Aberdeen was targeted by the beam while he was manually landing, which caused the plane to drop 400ft on Tuesday.

Half an hour later the laser was aimed at an Easyjet Airbus landing at 2200 BST from Stansted."

So evidently laser beams can penetrate the wind-shields of large commercial aircraft, and are not reflected or bounced off.

 

[murofy]

It is dangrous when the airplane meet laser/ lasers. There are more aeroplane accident cause of that. It is said that when you do some astronomy laser point, you should be told. Never point a airplane when you use laser pointer.

 

[mikedt]

It is dangrous when the airplane meet laser/ lasers. There are more aeroplane accident cause of that.

There's been incidents, that have already been discussed here. No actual crashes yet though(so far).

It is said that when you do some astronomy laser point, you should be told. Never point a airplane when you use laser pointer.

I think if one is doing it within the flightpath and approach of an airport, yes. But on the other hand if an aircraft is at 30,000-40,000ft and doing something like 600MPH. What's the effective range of handheld laser pointers? Which is down to how good the collimation lens is, atmospheric attenuation/diffusion and how powerful it is. Some claim five miles range in their advertising, maybe rather optimistic though.

I have quite a powerful green laser pointer, which I use in classrooms and I live under the final approach for Xilinhot Airport, only two flights a day though(daytime). Think I'm quite safe to use it for night-time astronomy though.