Big rise in laser incidents
27.09.11
Cases of laser pens being shone at planes at Edinburgh Airport have almost tripled, the Evening News reports. The lasers can disorientate or blind pilots for up to ten seconds as they come in to land. Airport bosses have said that there has been a ‘phenomenal growth’ in the number of planes and helicopters being targeted, putting lives at risk.
37 cases have been reported so far this year. In 2010 there were 52 - up from 16 in 2009 and no cases in 2007. The latest incident was on September 5, when an easyJet plane reported a green beam being shone at the cockpit. Police said the light originated from the Duddingston Loch area. Four days earlier, another pilot reported seeing a laser pen in the Cramond area. At the end of April, similar incidents were reported in Silverknowes and Livingston.
A police spokesman said they treat the incidents ‘extremely seriously’. In September last year, a man who targeted a fighter jet with a laser pen was jailed for 4 months.
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