Lasers illuminate airline cockpits on approach...

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 9:28 am

Just when I was starting to feel comfortable about flying again...

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/29/laser.plane/index.html

Six commercial airliners in the past four days have had their cockpits illuminated by laser beams while attempting to land, a government official told CNN Wednesday.

MegaVectra · Post by **MegaVectra** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 9:34 am

That is crazy! Probably just some punk kids.

Floater · Post by **Floater** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 9:57 am

how exactly would you shine a laser into a cockpit, who's windows are small, and one that is traveling at a fairly high rate of speed? and if you aim from the ground and the plane is above you, how do you get the laser in the window? doesn't make sense.

TruckStuff · Post by **TruckStuff** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 10:04 am

Anyone here read Tom Clancy's Debt of Honor (may have been Executive Orders)? Didn't they do this to some Japanese pilots in that book?

tunis5000 · Post by **tunis5000** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 11:10 am

That is crazy! Probably just some punk kids.

I bet it was those damn sharks with the frickin lasers on their heads!

TruckStuff · Post by **TruckStuff** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 2:05 pm

Originally posted by tunis5000
I bet it was those damn sharks with the frickin lasers on their heads!

*rimshot*

Pugsley · Post by **Pugsley** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 2:08 pm

if you were on the ground and shined a laser up at a plane thats sayy... i dont know 1000 feet in the air... you move that pointer the slightest bit and youll miss... its just like trying to hit a sign a block away... you cant unless its on a trypod like a telescope type one. And who needs visible laser... use infared and get em.. or a 2000 watt laser... its possible to do if you mod a few parts.

Invisible Evil · Post by **Invisible Evil** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 2:33 pm

Originally posted by Pugsley
if you were on the ground and shined a laser up at a plane thats sayy... i dont know 1000 feet in the air... you move that pointer the slightest bit and youll miss... its just like trying to hit a sign a block away... you cant unless its on a trypod like a telescope type one. And who needs visible laser... use infared and get em.. or a 2000 watt laser... its possible to do if you mod a few parts.

Dr. Evil??

Absolut Talent · Post by **Absolut Talent** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 6:43 pm

now that article was about the possibility of the laser hitting the pilots in the eyes and causing a crash.....

when a plane is comming in for a landing, isnt it tipped back enough that it would be damn near impossible to hit the pilots from the ground because of the angle?

rndmtask · Post by **rndmtask** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 8:28 pm

They never say how this laser light looks. Is it visibile, how bright? I don't see how "some kids who got a laser pointer for chistmas" can even come close to shining the light into a cockpit of an airplane 15 miles away. If they did the beam would be so big that it would barely be able to do any damage.

robbie · Post by **robbie** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 8:43 pm

I've heard about this on the radio. This really could be a bad bad thing.

One thing that I would like to mention is I think that maybe just maybe this thread should be moved from the "cheers!" topic!!!

(but that's just me

)
Rob

TruckStuff · Post by **TruckStuff** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 8:53 pm

Originally posted by Absolut Talent
when a plane is comming in for a landing, isnt it tipped back enough that it would be damn near impossible to hit the pilots from the ground because of the angle?

Only on final approach. My father-in-law is pilot for Delta and is in town this evening. He says most of these incidents happened months ago.

MegaVectra · Post by **MegaVectra** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 12:31 am

Originally posted by tunis5000
I bet it was those damn sharks with the frickin lasers on their heads!

Hahahaaahaa

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 11:24 am

I used to do audio visual convention work and worked with commercial lasers.

I would SERIOUSLY worry more about a commercial laser (beam width can be a half inch or more at long distances) and if it's on computerized beam splitter rig (like a commercial laser light show system) the beam can repeatably scan a large area (same way an electron gun scans a TV picture tube). You wouldn't need much accuracy at that point.

All planes follow the same approach path to an airport runway - a rather precise glide slope.

A commercial laser can scan (paint) a 20 foot by 20 foot square in the sky that the plane needs to fly through with a refresh rate of 40Hz. You're definately going to make things difficult for the flight crew.

Believe me, I know, I've been accidently blinded by a relatively low power (indoor) green commercial laser rig.

Back when I was doing laser work the rigs were rather bulky, but they're VERY light weight and small now. Something you could easily setup on the bed of a pickup truck and throw a tarp over it.

Heck, except for the fact that you'd need a small generator to power it (or a very large inverter) the whole thing could fit in a large shipping trunk.

I don't know how well it would work - a plane may still not reliably pass though the box you're painting. At night the laser emitter would stand out like a sore thumb, and in daylight (and even at night) heated air wafting up from the ground, runways, and even coming off the engines might significantly disrupt the beam's effectiveness.

However, this is easily done with easily obtained equipment, and apparently someone out there is experimenting.

I'd be REAL concerned about it.

Links:

http://www.redline-lasers.com/bspecs.htm

http://www.redline-lasers.com/glm.htm

http://www.redline-lasers.com/beambox.htm

b-man1 · Post by **b-man1** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 1:58 pm

here you go!

dude busted for this...