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UK: Pilot relates trying to land airplane in bad weather plus a laser strike

A commercial airline pilot told of his experience with a laser pen attack just as he was preparing to land in “atrocious” weather on December 18 2013.

The unnamed pilot was on approach to Newcastle International Airport. He told the Eastern Chronicle:

The weather was atrocious, with strong turbulence and crosswinds outside of the legal limits for my first officer. The aircraft was being battered by the gales and the landing conditions at the airport at the very margins required total concentration from the flight crews, and in particular, myself as the captain landing the aircraft with a large number of passengers inbound from the Mediterranean.”

He was then hit in the left eye, with a “searing pain”. He turned towards the light, looking at the source.

“My left eye was left sore and blurred but, mercifully, weather conditions eased and the landing was uneventful. On this occasion it was just a major distraction on a very difficult night when all my efforts should have been on getting the aircraft safely down.

“Had the attack happened minutes later, both eyes would have been affected and my co-pilot would have had to face the prospect of landing outside his limits, or diverting. The miscreant must have been very aware of the conditions and its only aim was to bring down the aircraft and its occupants.”

From the ChronicleLive and the Telegraph

UK: 6 months in jail for "dangerous idiot" laser pen offender

A 23-year-old Newcastle area man was sentenced on July 26 2011 to 6 months in jail for repeatedly aiming a laser pen at a Northumbria Police helicopter around 1 am on June 6. Richard Anthony Oliver was outside his house in South Shields, and admitted the offence. He had purchased the laser pen while on holiday in Turkey, according to his lawyer, and “he accepts that it was a stupid, silly thing to do.”


6 months for aiming a laser pen at a police helicopter

The judge called Oliver a “dangerous idiot” for illuminating the helicopter “for a considerable amount of time.”

In addition to the 6-month laser pen sentence, Oliver received another 6 months in jail on an unrelated theft charge.

From the Shields Gazette, Chronicle Live and BBC News. See also the Shields Gazette June 21 2011 story about Oliver’s guilty plea, and LaserPointerSafety.com’s original news item about the June 6 incident.

UK: 3 month sentence for Newcastle teen

On July 22 2011, 18-year-old David Taylor of Newcastle began a three month sentence in a young offender’s institute, for aiming a green laser pen multiple times at a Northumbria Police helicopter. The pilot was forced to change course during the March 12 2011 incident. Taylor was later convicted of recklessly acting in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft.

A police spokesperson said “I hope this sentence sends out the message to others that this sort of behaviour is not a game or a prank, it’s extremely serious .... they are committing a criminal offence.”

From
Chronicle Live and BBC News

UK: Helicopter hit twice in four days

A Northumbria Police helicopter in the Newcastle area was lased two times within four days. The most recent was June 6 2011, when 23-year-old Richard Anthony Oliver aimed a laser pen at the aircraft as it was flying over South Shields. Oliver was charged with directing a light at an aircraft to distract a pilot. [UPDATE July 26 2011: Oliver was given a 6 month sentence for the laser offence. Details are here.]

Earlier, on June 2, two 14-year-old boys lased the aircraft, which had been searching for criminal suspects near West Denton. The on-board observer said “... a green light filled the cockpit. For a few seconds I couldn’t see anything, all I could see was a green light. My sight was obliterated and I was dazzled.”

The pilot was forced to break off their search in order to find the laser perpetrators. They landed at a nearby airfield. The two teens were arrested and may charged with recklessly acting in a manner to endanger an aircraft.

From the Evening Chronicle