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US: 37 months in prison for aiming at two news helicopters

A 33-year-old South Carolina man was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison on November 4 2014, for aiming a green laser beam at two news helicopters as they hovered over an accident site.

Damien Wade Conley was in a pickup truck on Interstate 85 on November 20 2013 when, stopped in traffic due to the accident, he repeatedly aimed a laser pointer out the front window towards the helicopters. One pilot said “When he hit us with that laser, the first thing I saw was the whole cockpit lit up green.”

Damien Wade Conley laser vehicle 1

Damien Wade Conley laser vehicle 2
Two views from WYYFF’s Sky4 helicopter, showing the beam from Conley’s vehicle being aimed close to the aircraft, and then aimed directly into the camera.


From WYFF4 and an FBI press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of South Carolina

US: Laser causes Coast Guard in SC to break off search; 3rd time in 3 weeks

For the third time in three weeks, a South Carolina Coast Guard mission was broken off due to lasers being aimed at a helicopter. As a result, a 60 mile stretch of beach, the “Grand Strand”, is now identified as “very high risk” to Coast Guard aircrews. The area includes Myrtle Beach, which has had continuing problems with laser harassment and misuse.

On August 8 2012, three orange flares were spotted near Garden City Beach, S.C. A helicopter from Air Facility Charleston, S.C. arrived in the area when it was illuminated by a laser. Under Coast Guard rules, the helicopter broke off its mission and the aircrew underwent medical inspection. One crew member had direct laser exposure and was not cleared to fly again for roughly 12 hours.

A boat was sent to continue the search, but did not arrive at the scene until about two hours after the helicopter had left. At dawn, a second helicopter was sent out. Neither the boat nor the helicopter found anything unusual.

The commanding officer of the Coast Guard’s Air Station Savannah said “… every time we send our aircrews to the Grand Strand, we're telling them to fly into the equivalent of a storm, where it's almost guaranteed they'll be hit. We're simply asking the public to stop putting Coast Guard men and women in senseless and unnecessary danger."

From CarolinaLive. See a related story about the first two Coast Guard laser incidents, in July 2012, in the same area.

US: UPDATED - Coast Guard makes "emergency landing" after S.C.laser illumination

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, searching for a missing boater near Charleston S.C., made an emergency landing after a laser was aimed into the cockpit from shore on July 16 2012. According to Carolina Live, the Coast Guard requires an eye exam for each person on board after any laser incident. They must then be cleared by a flight surgeon before they can return to flight duty.

The story did not say whether the helicopter crew broke off their mission, or whether they completed the search before the landing. It also does not give a definition or details of the emergency; for example, whether merely having the laser in the cockpit required an emergency landing under Coast Guard procedures, or whether the crew experienced any vision or operational difficulties.

There have been six laser incidents with Savannah air station-based Coast Guard helicopters in the last year and a half, with four of these occurring during searches.

From CarolinaLive.com. In addition to this story, see additional stories at LaserPointerSafety.com about ongoing problems at Myrtle Beach.

UPDATE July 28 2012: A story at Myrtle Beach Online describes the ordeal of the missing boaters, and how lasers twice forced Coast Guard helicopters to break off the search. It also has additional details about Coast Guard procedures once a laser is seen.