What’s new at LaserPointerSafety.com
This page covers new pages and material here at the website. This page does NOT list new laser pointer incidents -- you can find these on the News page.
August 2010
Added a page analyzing a proposed U.S. law, H.R. 5810 banning knowingly aiming laser pointers at aircraft or their flight path. The law passed the House and currently is awaiting Senate action. One webpage has our description, analysis and status report of HR 5810. Another webpage has ILDA’s suggested improved version of the bill. Both ILDA and LaserPointerSafety.com believe that HR 5810 should not be passed in its present form.
Provided information to a reporter from the National Post, after an Aug. 17 incident in Calgary.
July 2010
Added a link to an article in the British Medical Journal, about a teenager whose eyes were damaged by his green diode laser pointer.
June 2010
Added a press release from Optra Inc. about the FBI buying Optra’s “Laser Event Recorders” for cockpit use. These not only record the event with GPS location and timestamp, they also tell pilots whether the laser light is at potentially damaging levels.
Added a page covering the June 2010 introduction of ultra-high powered Class 4 laser pointers such as the Wicked Lasers Spyder III Pro Arctic. It describes the hazard, explains why these should be banned, and discusses why current U.S. laws are not strong enough.
Added material encouraging laws to make it harder to “harvest” lasers, as was done with the Spyder III Pro Arctic. (Wicked Lasers gets the diodes from Casio data projectors sold in everyday office supply stores. Thus, a “good” device containing lasers can be turned into a device that LaserPointerSafety.com considers too powerful for consumer use.) See the section about cut-off lasers and harvesting on the page If you are writing a laser law.
Added news and Internet commentary about the Spyder III Pro Arctic.
April 2010
Added a FAQ question, “Why is a laser pointer hazardous to aircraft?”
March 2010
Added a page “For professionals using lasers outdoors” to the “How to reduce incidents” section. This talks about the use of aircraft spotters and automated/semi-automated systems such as radar.
Added information about the FAA, and how they control outdoor use of lasers, to the U.S. regulatory agencies page.
Added SAE G10-T Laser Safety Hazards Committee, ANSI Z136 committee, and IEC 60825 TC-76 committee to the Links page, under the “Laser and industry groups” heading.
October 2009
Added a new page, "To find incident reports". If readers are aware of similar online lists of aviation incidents which include laser illuminations, please contact us.
September 2009
Added a new page with suggested definitions and concepts, for anyone considering writing a law to restrict laser uses or limit access to certain types of lasers.
Added two pages listing many international (non-U.S.) and U.S. laws prohibiting various aspects of laser pointer use.
ILDA suggested changes to legislation intended to be introduced in the U.S. Congress. The old version (which did not become law in 2005 and 2007) is here. ILDA's updated version is here.
We are pleased to note that a major Internet laser distributor is now including an aviation safety warning on their U.S. labels. For details on this encouraging progress, see this news item.
Moved information about the CDRH and other U.S. regulators to a new page, under the “Laser pointer laws” section.
August 2009
Minor wording and format changes on some pages. Added a link to an interesting (if not always accurate) debate on whether laser pointers should be banned, from a debating website. Added some older news items about the March 2008 Sydney incidents that led to the New South Wales ban on laser pointers.
Added a link to the July/August 2009 issue of FAA Aviation News magazine. On page 28 is an article, written from the FAA’s perspective, on laser illumination incidents.
July 2009
Added links to a June 2009 webpage and PDF brochure from the U.S. FDA CDRH, about laser pointer hazards. Added a new page, summarizing the results of a 2009 Dutch study comparing searchlights to lasers. The complete study is available on the Files and downloads page.
May 2009
Added a question to the FAQ about whether searchlights need to be regulated like lasers. Started a new section (submenu) with pilot effect reports, in anticipation of release of the 2009 Dutch study comparing searchlights to lasers.
Added a new section about Federal rules for those selling laser pointers in the U.S., and about what happens if you break the rules.
April 2009
Added new pages on “How to reduce incidents”. This gives guidance for users, manufacturers & sellers, pilots, airlines & FAA, and FDA/CDRH.
Added a new diagram on the page NEVER aim at aircraft. The diagram shows how police helicopters can find and help apprehend people who illuminate airplanes with laser pointers.
Added a private area, requiring a password for entry. This is currently under construction.
Added a new Files page. Two of the files added are PowerPoint slide presentations about lasers and aviation safety. The presentations were given at the March 2009 International Laser Safety Conference, by Van Nakagawara of the FAA and by Patrick Murphy of ILDA.
March 2009
Added a new link to a paper “Lasers and Aviation Safety”, presented by Patrick Murphy of ILDA at the March 2009 International Laser Safety Conference.
February 2009
Added a page where users and pilots can report a laser incident.
Updated the Aircraft hazard diagram to a new version with dark photographic background and additional text information.