Europe: 4,266 laser incidents; harmonized criminal laws sought
In 2008, there were 1,048 European incidents.
A Eurocontrol safety expert said “Preventing and mitigating the current problem requires a harmonized approach throughout Europe. We need the full involvement of regulators, judicial authorities, police, airlines and their associations, air navigation service providers, laser manufacturers who must understand how serious the problem is, as well as research institutes.”
Most European countries do not have specific laws against aiming lasers at aircraft. Eurocontrol stated they should be subject to the same restrictions as firearms, covering the purchase, transportation and use of lasers.
German politician Volker Kauder said that high-powered lasers should be treated as weapons under the Geman Arms Act.
From the Washington Post
Germany: BMW shows safety features of its new laser headlights
Each of the four headlights uses three blue lasers. The lasers are directed by mirrors onto a lens containing yellow phosphorus. This re-emits white light onto a larger mirror that reflects it out the headlight glass onto the road.
Two of the four laser headlights are shown here. The resulting white light beam is emitted toward the upper left of the photo.
The system is 1000 times brighter than LED headlights, uses half the power, lasts just as long (10,000 hours) and allows more flexible designs. BMW noted that light emitted from the headlights is not laser light, and is safe to stare into. In case of an accident, the headlights are powered down so no laser light could escape.
[Note from LaserPointerSafety.com: It is likely that the laser diodes in the headlight are the same type used in Casio’s Green Slim projectors and the Wicked Laser Spyder III Arctic handheld laser. These are relatively inexpensive -- less than $30 each in quantity -- and produce a nominal 1 watt of light.]
From Motor Trend
Germany: "Iron Man" laser fires Class 4 beam from a hobbyist's palm
Hobbyist Patrick Priebe’s inspiration was the comic book character “Iron Man”, who has “repulsor rays” in the palms of his armor’s gloves. Priebe’s device is self-contained, with the battery in a case that wraps around the back of the hand. Simply flexing his hand triggers the beam to fire.
Priebe’s 1 watt, 445 nm blue laser beam ignites a match
His inspiration: Iron Man’s repulsor ray glove, as seen here in the motion picture with Robert Downey, Jr.
Priebe made a number of versions. He is selling limited numbers (not mass-produced) of kits and assembled gloves on laser pointer forums for $200-500 depending on the version.
From Popular Science and many other sources. Details on the construction are at Hacked Gadgets. Videos of the device in action are here and here.
Germany: 273 (or 388) incidents in 2010; call for ban on pointers
He recommended fast action. He discussed a European import ban, as well as classifying lasers as a weapon, and prohibiting private possession of Class 3 and Class 4 lasers. He said, “I call on the competent authorities to submit to the problem of dangerous laser fast red tape as possible solutions, before something happens and people get hurt.”
The pilot’s union Vereinigung Cockpit said an import ban is not sufficient, because customs checks are difficult. Cockpit board member Joerg Handwerg said "Although lasers may not be sold in shops with a capacity of more than one milliwatt in Germany, but you get the devices in the Internet.” The group wants to prohibit the possession of equipment for private individuals.
Original articles (in German) from Rettung Magazine, Fluege.de News, and Heute.de.
*NOTE: An April 23 2011 article from N-TV.de says there were 388 “attacks with laser pointers at pilots” in 2010. This is according to the German air traffic control agency, DFS. The article had no additional information that might account for the discrepancy with the 273 incidents in 2010 that is quoted above.
Germany: Homemade laser pulse gun packs 1-megawatt punch
This differs from most pointers and handheld lasers, which use lasers that emit continuous light. This one emits a single, strong pulse each time the trigger is pulled. It is “enough to punch holes in plastic sheets, scorch wood, and pop balloons from several feet away” according to Dvice.com.
The maker, Patrick Priebe, posted a YouTube video showing the gun in action. He also was offering it for sale. According to Priebe, the gun uses a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. It takes four seconds to charge the capacitor; the gun then fires a 100 nanosecond, 1 megawatt burst of infrared 1064 nanometer light. The gun took Priebe about 70 hours to build. His YouTube page offers to help others wanting to build their own laser gun.
SAFETY NOTE: Because the laser emits an invisible pulse, it would not be a visual interference hazard to aircraft (e.g., it could not cause glare or flashblindness). At close range the Q-switched pulse would definitely be an eye hazard, causing an explosive steam “pop” on the retina rather than the relatively slow burn of a continuous-wave laser. LaserPointerSafety.com has not done an analysis to determine the “safe” distance, beyond which it would not pose an eye hazard to pilots or others.
From Dvice.com and Hacked Gadgets forum
Germany: Laser pointer attacks increase
According the country’s DFS air traffic authority, reports of laser pointer incidents in Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Saarbrücken have spiked in recent weeks. One particular incident where a laser pointer caused a “disturbance” is under investigation by the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation (BFU), the organisation reported.
“In our assessment this is very dangerous,” DFS spokesperson Kristina Kelek said on Thursday. Read More...