The pilot of a Jet Blue plane preparing to land at JFK reported a green laser beam penetrated the cockpit.
The plane was approaching JFK over Breezy Point in Queens around 7:45 Saturday night.
The pilot told air traffic controllers the green beam was so powerful he had to use a sun visor to block the light.
The laser beam appeared to come from the area of the shore and was pointed directly at the cockpit, according to the pilot.
The flight, which originated in Portland, landed safely at JFK without incident.
Police were investigating.
(Source: WABC)
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10 Responses
another pilot looking for fame. today’s landings are done by auto pilot as opposed to the take-offs. the lazer beam must have ‘penetrated’ the cockpit for no more than a split second because the plane was traveling so fast! i doubt he had time to put the sun visor down or don his radioactive protection gear in that time frame. duh. many of us are talmudists here and dont fall for every thing reported in the news ya know…….
Yeshivaworld please keep us posted with updates. This story can be potentially very scary.
Police helicopters in England (in my town at least) are now equipped with special equipment to find the source of the (green)laser beam (i.e the person who is shining the torch), so in case of an incident, they work with the polive on ground who make an arrest. It works by therma heat or something like that-it can even detect a laser torch that the person has thrown away for another few minutes as it remains warm for a little while longer. The beam is not dangerous to the eyes at the altitude an aircraft is normally at, but can be dangerous/disrupting as it reduces visibility and concentration (the very bright green light bounces round the cockpit). Can’t find the site I read up about this last week or would have copied the info, so sorry not too clear.
Dear farfrumt I hope you know that if the pilot of an aircraft is blinded for even a second at some critical moments of the landing then the chances of a safe landing is practically zero. By the way this is not the first time this has happened and a terrorist orginazation took responsibility for the last time it happened. So the next time you or any of your farfrumt chevra have something to make laytzanus of please get your facts straight
#1: Today’s landings are NOT done by auto pilot. Even if they are, the captain is ultimately in control of the aircraft, and crew safety is paramount.
While you are correct about the aircraft speed, it doesn’t take more than a second of laser dazzle to disorient a pilot, especially at dawn or dusk (the event occurred at dusk).
Sun visor doesn’t work, and you are showing your technical ignorance by talking about “radioactive protection gear”.
There is a reason why illuminating a flying aircraft with a laser is a federal crime.
#1 – The weakest of military-style laser guns are several hundred times more powerful than the pointer toys you’re thinking of. They have scopes, sites, and some even have tracking devices. If one of these is in use in NY, this is no joke. In other words, Rishus may be Chal in our Daled Amos.
“Farfrumpt”, do you actually have any real knowledge backing up your comment? Do yo know the difference between a green laser or the more common red lasers? Do you have any idea how accurately a handheld green laser can hit a moving target at a few hundred to a few thousand feet? Do you know the actual land speed of a landing jet plane? Do you know how hard it is to target the cockpit? Do you know how many times this has happened in the past? Do you know how long a green laser needs to contact the pilots eyes before the pilot is blinded and do you know for how long the pilot is blinded? Do you really think that autopilot lands every flight from beginning to end and the pilot is just a backup??? Please…
If the person with the laser was facing the plane as it came in to land the beam could easily have been there for far more then a second.
#, do you know anything about aviation? MOST flights are NOT landed by autopilot especially in the NY area considering the dense traffic in the area…
#1 Farfrumpt – You are partially misinformed. Today commercial aircraft can be operated hands-off from take off to landing; however, under generally applicable procedures aircrews handle take offs and landings manually. I learned this from a relative who was a key member of the team that developed the control system.