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New Zealand: Student pilot illuminated twice by laser

An airplane piloted by a student was illuminated two times within five minutes by a green laser. The incident happened as the student pilot and instructor were flaying around Wellington Airport at 10:15 pm on February 25 2020.

At about the same time a day earlier, another small aircraft was targeted near the airport.

In both cases, the aircraft was able to land safely but a perpetrator was not found.

From 1 News

New Zealand: Sentenced to 200 hours service for illuminating Wellington airplane

Vladimir Maricic, 25, was sentenced to 200 hours of community service for twice hitting a Mt Cook Airlines plane with a laser beam, as it flew near Wellington on March 4 2008. Maricic was aiming from a car park at the Mt Victoria lookout. He said he wanted to see how far the beam would reach, and that he did not intend any harm. He was charged under the Civil Aviation Act with causing unnecessary danger.

The judge said Maricic’s actions were “extremely dangerous no matter how unintentional.”

From the
New Zealand Herald