Is that shiny new laser you got for Christmas (literally) burning a hole in your pocket? Feel the need to take it out and shine it at something more exciting than your garage door, like a police helicopter? Or considering a trip down to your local airport to fire it at incoming pilots? For health and safety reasons, this has always been a pretty self-evidently bad idea, but the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today issued a new legal opinion (PDF) under which it will attempt to fine laser users up to $11,000.
“Shining a laser into the cockpit of an aircraft is not a joke. These lasers can temporarily blind a pilot and make it impossible to safely land the aircraft, jeopardizing the safety of the passengers and people on the ground,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt in a statement.
Under existing rules, anyone who tries to “assault, threaten, intimidate, or interfere with a crew member in the performance of the crewmember's duties aboard an aircraft being operated” is liable for civil penalties of up to $11,000. The rule has, until now, only been applied on board an aircraft, usually when a passenger starts shoving flight attendants around.
But so many people have been firing so many lasers in the cockpits that the FAA sought legal guidance about whether it could apply the existing rule to people on the ground who interfere with an aircraft's approach. According to an internal legal opinion, released today, the answer is yes.
The FAA has already logged more than 1,100 laser pointing incidents this year alone; in 2010, it recorded 2,836. The incidents are scattered around the country, but Los Angeles International Airport had the most (102 in 2010) while Chicago O'Hare came in second (98 in 2010).
Today's FAA announcement says that the rise in laser incidents is "likely due to a number of factors, including greater awareness and outreach to pilots to encourage reporting; the availability of inexpensive laser devices on the Internet; stronger power levels that enable lasers to hit aircraft at higher altitudes; and the introduction of green lasers, which are more easily seen than red lasers."
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