Joined: Sep 16, 2006 Posts: 736 Location: North England
Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2013 6:55 am Post subject: Man Sentenced to Jail for Aiming Laser at Police Helicopter
Man Sentenced to Jail for Aiming Laser at Police Helicopter
A 19-year-old North Hollywood man was sentenced Monday to two and a half years in federal prison for shining a laser at a business jet and then aiming the "commercial-grade" device at a police helicopter sent to find the source.
Adam Gardenhire pleaded guilty in October to a single count of aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Gardenhire pointed the laser at a Cessna Citation on March 29, 2012, as the pilot was preparing to land at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, leaving the pilot with vision impairment that lasted several hours.
Gardenhire then aimed the device at a Pasadena police helicopter that had been dispatched to find the source of the laser that had been pointed at the Cessna, prosecutors said, noting that the helicopter pilot was wearing protecting eye gear and did not suffer any injury.
Prosecutors said laser beams, even penlight-style pointers, can temporarily blind pilots. Though lasers project a tiny beam over relatively short distances, the diameter of the beam grows significantly over the distance of a few miles.
I can't open the link, but I'd be very interested to find out what "protective eye gear" the helicopter pilot was wearing... sadly we are subjected to nightly laser attacks
I can't open the link, but I'd be very interested to find out what "protective eye gear" the helicopter pilot was wearing... sadly we are subjected to nightly laser attacks
I was at a safety meeting recently with one of the LASD pilots who gave a presentation on laser attacks and how they are dealing with them.
Basically they put out to tender for testing amongst various radiation protection glasses - they look very similar to those yellow 'driving' glasses you used to be able to buy.
They settled on one design (the same as another PD chose independantly) which I think retailed around $140 a pair. Their pilots and observers are issued with a pair that they can put on if attacked.
They are also very procative in dealing with these attacks and if one is reported to ATC or air to air direct to them they will go to the area and try to get lasered in the hope of an arrest.
I can't remember the make but the guy that gave the presentation was Sgt. Morrie Zager, Los Angeles County Sheriffs Dept. mczager AT lasd.org. He was happy to be contacted reference the problem.
W. _________________ In memory of Skippy the Dog - "www.pilotsnpaws.org" - RIP Scruffy.x
Thank you for the link - LASD have confirmed that they use Laser Shields too, so it seems to be the way ahead (provided there are no export restrictions).
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Online Stats: 
Membership:
Most Ever Online
