Most of the news items here at LaserPointerSafety.com were found by searching Google News for terms such as "laser pointer airplane" or "laser helicopter".
For more systematic research, check out official government records of aircraft incidents. Searching for the term "laser" can find almost all records, since the term is normally not used except in conjunction with laser pointer type incidents.
Canada
Use the Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System, CADORS. Fill in the Word/Text Search form as shown in the example below. For "Field to search" select "Narrative"; for search text, use "laser".
In late October 2009, a search for "laser" returned 83 incidents from January 1 2009 to October 19 2009.
United States
In the U.S., FAA Systems Operation Security has a database of reports. This may not be available to the general public. If you are a researcher, reporter or other person with a legitimate interest, contact FAA SOS to see if you can gain access. The contact information is on the "To report an incident" page.
Outside of FAA SOS, NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System is the best source for U.S. incidents. ASRS is "the world's largest repository of voluntary, confidential safety information provided by aviation's frontline personnel, including pilots, controllers, mechanics, flight attendants, and dispatchers." The system is run by NASA, independent of the FAA, so that pilots can report anonymously, without fear of being grounded for reporting adverse incidents.
The ASRS Database Online search form has many search fields as shown below. A quick search using only the Text field, and the word "laser", found 78 ACN reports. It is likely that this number is low in terms of "all-time" laser incidents. (ASRS incident reports go back to at least the mid-1990s, so there should be many more than 78 all-tme reports.)
To do a more comprehensive search, check out the ASRS home page. Ithas more information about searching tips and techniques.
