LaserPointerSafety.com
A comprehensive resource for safe and responsible laser use
Aviation hazard facts
This section contains pages on the following topics:
- Latest aviation incident statistics - Links to articles about the number and type of laser/aviation incidents, in the U.S. and elsewhere
- What makes lasers hazardous to aviation - A quick overview of what is -- and is NOT -- a problem for pilots
- Basic principles of laser beam hazards for aviation - A discussion of principles that are important to understand about laser beam hazards. These principles include:
- 1: The most significant hazards have relatively short distances
- 2: Distraction is always 90% of the total visual interference hazard distance
- 3: The eye injury hazard depends only on power and divergence; visual interference hazards also depend on color
- 4: A green laser is more of a visual hazard than an equivalent power red or blue laser
- 5: The effect of the laser’s color on visual hazard distances is not linear — it is the square root (e.g., has less effect)
- 6: As lasers get more powerful, the hazard goes up more slowly (good news!)
- 7: Real-world lasers can have shorter hazard distances than “worst-case” calculations
- All of the above are discussed at much greater length, on the Basic principles page
- Why laser beams seem to end - A person aiming a laser into the night sky will see the beam as if it ends. To many, it looks as if the beam cannot reach an aircraft. These people are wrong. This page explains why.
Additional topics on laser/aviation safety are listed in the main Aviation information menu