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US: GAO report says less than 1% of laser-aircraft incidents result in fines or prosecution
18 Aug 2022 -- Categories: Aviation incidents | Fines & Jail | Finding perpetrators | Statistics | SLA news
The August 18 2022 U.S. General Accounting Office report to Congress about aviation laser safety contains statistics on laser perpetrators.
From July 2016 through September 2020, there were about 27,000 laser incidents reported by pilots to FAA.
Of these, 232 suspects were identified (0.86%). The "overwhelming majority… involved illumination of police and media aircraft", primarily helicopters that can hover over a scene. This hovering makes it much easier to identify perpetrators' locations, compared with fixed-wing aircraft that often cannot deviate from their route to chase after perpetrators.
FAA CIVIL ACTIONS
FAA took civil action against 99 of the 232 suspects:
• Assessed civil penalties against 70 of the 99 subjects. These civil penalties ranged from $50 to $27,338.29
• Proposed but had not assessed civil penalties against 17 of the 99 subjects.
• Ordered administrative actions (e.g. issuing warning notices to subjects) against three subjects
• Issued compliance actions (e.g. counseling) against eight subjects.
• Referred one case to the government of Canada for legal action because the subject was a Canadian resident.
This chart shows what happened to the remaining 133 suspects:
To summarize, out of 27,000 laser incidents there have been 70 persons fined so far (0.26%). There is the possibility of fining an additional 45 persons (17 proposed, 28 pending). If every one of these additional 45 persons was fined, that would make a total of 115 persons who would be fined (0.43%).
Thus, less than 1/2 of 1 percent of all laser incidents reported to FAA result in a fine or potential fine.
US ATTORNEYS' OFFICE CRIMINAL ACTIONS
In addition, there were criminal prosecutions. From the GAO report:
"According to our analysis, the FBI and other federal entities referred 86 laser incidents to USAOs for prosecution from July 2016 through September.32 Our analysis shows USAOs prosecuted 44 subjects, resulting in 40 convictions. In 23 of the 40 convictions, the subject received no term of imprisonment, while 15 subjects were sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 3 months to 51 months."
"FBI officials told us federal prosecution may be more likely if a subject is suspected in a cluster of laser incidents, if a law enforcement aircraft was lased and a mission was interrupted, or if a subject had prior offenses, among other criteria."
Forty convictions out of 27,000 incidents is 0.15%. The 15 subjects imprisoned represent 0.06% of the incidents.
The report does not state if any of the criminal cases overlap with the FAA civil cases (e.g., a case is counted twice — once for FAA and once for criminal actions).
Data from the GAO's full 46-page report.
From July 2016 through September 2020, there were about 27,000 laser incidents reported by pilots to FAA.
Of these, 232 suspects were identified (0.86%). The "overwhelming majority… involved illumination of police and media aircraft", primarily helicopters that can hover over a scene. This hovering makes it much easier to identify perpetrators' locations, compared with fixed-wing aircraft that often cannot deviate from their route to chase after perpetrators.
FAA CIVIL ACTIONS
FAA took civil action against 99 of the 232 suspects:
• Assessed civil penalties against 70 of the 99 subjects. These civil penalties ranged from $50 to $27,338.29
• Proposed but had not assessed civil penalties against 17 of the 99 subjects.
• Ordered administrative actions (e.g. issuing warning notices to subjects) against three subjects
• Issued compliance actions (e.g. counseling) against eight subjects.
• Referred one case to the government of Canada for legal action because the subject was a Canadian resident.
This chart shows what happened to the remaining 133 suspects:
To summarize, out of 27,000 laser incidents there have been 70 persons fined so far (0.26%). There is the possibility of fining an additional 45 persons (17 proposed, 28 pending). If every one of these additional 45 persons was fined, that would make a total of 115 persons who would be fined (0.43%).
Thus, less than 1/2 of 1 percent of all laser incidents reported to FAA result in a fine or potential fine.
US ATTORNEYS' OFFICE CRIMINAL ACTIONS
In addition, there were criminal prosecutions. From the GAO report:
"According to our analysis, the FBI and other federal entities referred 86 laser incidents to USAOs for prosecution from July 2016 through September.32 Our analysis shows USAOs prosecuted 44 subjects, resulting in 40 convictions. In 23 of the 40 convictions, the subject received no term of imprisonment, while 15 subjects were sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 3 months to 51 months."
"FBI officials told us federal prosecution may be more likely if a subject is suspected in a cluster of laser incidents, if a law enforcement aircraft was lased and a mission was interrupted, or if a subject had prior offenses, among other criteria."
Forty convictions out of 27,000 incidents is 0.15%. The 15 subjects imprisoned represent 0.06% of the incidents.
The report does not state if any of the criminal cases overlap with the FAA civil cases (e.g., a case is counted twice — once for FAA and once for criminal actions).
Data from the GAO's full 46-page report.
US: GAO report has three recommendations for FAA
On August 18 2022 the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) issued a report prepared for Congress. The title is "Aviation Safety: FAA Should Strengthen Efforts to Address the Illegal Practice of Intentionally Aiming Lasers at Aircraft."
The GAO began their study of the issue in November 2020. Their goal was to determine:
• "the extent to which [the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration] FAA and other federal agencies take enforcement action against those who point lasers at aircraft and challenges with investigations and reporting;"
• "public outreach efforts FAA and other federal agencies have taken to deter laser incidents, and what actions, if any, would strengthen these efforts; and"
• "options that stakeholders have identified to mitigate the effects of laser incidents, and the potential benefits and challenges to implementation."
FINDINGS
The following is from the "What GAO Found" summary of their findings:
"Aiming a laser at an aircraft can distract or disorient pilots and is a federal crime. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigates laser incidents, pursues civil penalties, and assists the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and U.S. Attorneys with investigations. Given the nature of laser incidents, FAA and federal law enforcement face difficulties identifying those involved. However, they have taken some enforcement actions, resulting in penalties ranging from $50 to $27,388 and sentences of up to 51 months, according to GAO analysis."
"To support incident investigations, FAA asks that pilots complete an incident questionnaire upon landing. However, FAA received responses for about 12 percent of the 8,221 laser incidents that occurred over a recent one-year period from 2020 to 2021. Reasons identified by FAA and others for the low response rate include the length of the questionnaire and its voluntary nature. Further, FAA does not consistently share collected information with law enforcement."
"In 2016, Congress required FAA to report quarterly on laser incidents, including data on civil and criminal actions. However, GAO found FAA’s reports to be incomplete. For example, GAO’s analysis shows 44 prosecutions from July 2016 through September 2020, when FAA reported only four. FAA officials said they do not routinely request data on the status of actions from other agencies and face challenges, such as access to this data. By not routinely seeking updates from agencies, FAA does not provide Congress with a complete picture of laser incident investigations and enforcement actions as required."
"FAA, FBI, and the Food and Drug Administration, which has regulatory authority over lasers, each conduct outreach to educate the public about laser incidents. These agencies were involved in an interagency group to address laser safety concerns until 2015 when the group dissolved. Since then, laser incidents have increased and identifying subjects remains difficult. FAA is well positioned to lead an interagency effort to explore re-establishing this group, given FAA’s responsibility for the safety of the national airspace."
RECOMMENDATIONS
The 46-page report recommended three actions to be taken by FAA:
1: "The FAA Administrator should determine what information from pilots and crewmembers would be most useful for investigating laser incidents, and how best to collect the information and to share it with law enforcement."
2: "The FAA Administrator should improve its quarterly reports to Congress on laser incidents by routinely seeking information from other agencies on related federal investigation and enforcement actions and disclosing, in those reports, any limitations with the data."
3: "The FAA Administrator should work with FBI and FDA to explore re-establishing an interagency working group on outreach to educate the public on the hazards of lasers and the illegality of aiming lasers at aircraft."
From the GAO webpage about the report. It includes a link to the full 46-page report.
COMMENTARY FROM LASERPOINTERSAFETY.COM
While the three recommendations are useful, we are disappointed that the GAO report did not make a primary recommendation that FAA should require pilot training on how to handle laser illuminations. In our view, this is the single most important safety step that FAA could take.
The report does discuss this, beginning on page 30 with this paragraph:
"Most stakeholders told us that training pilots on how to respond to laser incidents is an important mitigation strategy. For example, representatives from an organization representing law enforcement pilots told us that training pilots in responding to laser incidents is important because there will always be laser incidents. These representatives said that even with effective public outreach and enforcement activities, there would be people intentionally trying to harm aircraft and that in these situations, it is important for pilots to know how to react. Additionally, representatives from a group representing pilots told us they recommend airlines develop and incorporate a laser strike training module at a minimum of every 2 years." (emphasis added)
However, the GAO report simply lists some pilot training efforts. It does not say that FAA should mandate this.
LaserPointerSafety.com has also recommended that pilots be exposed to safe, simulated laser light during simulator training. This gives a flavor of what a bright light disruption can be and helps "inoculate" pilots so they know what to do, just as they train for other aviation emergencies.
The GAO began their study of the issue in November 2020. Their goal was to determine:
• "the extent to which [the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration] FAA and other federal agencies take enforcement action against those who point lasers at aircraft and challenges with investigations and reporting;"
• "public outreach efforts FAA and other federal agencies have taken to deter laser incidents, and what actions, if any, would strengthen these efforts; and"
• "options that stakeholders have identified to mitigate the effects of laser incidents, and the potential benefits and challenges to implementation."
FINDINGS
The following is from the "What GAO Found" summary of their findings:
"Aiming a laser at an aircraft can distract or disorient pilots and is a federal crime. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigates laser incidents, pursues civil penalties, and assists the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and U.S. Attorneys with investigations. Given the nature of laser incidents, FAA and federal law enforcement face difficulties identifying those involved. However, they have taken some enforcement actions, resulting in penalties ranging from $50 to $27,388 and sentences of up to 51 months, according to GAO analysis."
"To support incident investigations, FAA asks that pilots complete an incident questionnaire upon landing. However, FAA received responses for about 12 percent of the 8,221 laser incidents that occurred over a recent one-year period from 2020 to 2021. Reasons identified by FAA and others for the low response rate include the length of the questionnaire and its voluntary nature. Further, FAA does not consistently share collected information with law enforcement."
"In 2016, Congress required FAA to report quarterly on laser incidents, including data on civil and criminal actions. However, GAO found FAA’s reports to be incomplete. For example, GAO’s analysis shows 44 prosecutions from July 2016 through September 2020, when FAA reported only four. FAA officials said they do not routinely request data on the status of actions from other agencies and face challenges, such as access to this data. By not routinely seeking updates from agencies, FAA does not provide Congress with a complete picture of laser incident investigations and enforcement actions as required."
"FAA, FBI, and the Food and Drug Administration, which has regulatory authority over lasers, each conduct outreach to educate the public about laser incidents. These agencies were involved in an interagency group to address laser safety concerns until 2015 when the group dissolved. Since then, laser incidents have increased and identifying subjects remains difficult. FAA is well positioned to lead an interagency effort to explore re-establishing this group, given FAA’s responsibility for the safety of the national airspace."
RECOMMENDATIONS
The 46-page report recommended three actions to be taken by FAA:
1: "The FAA Administrator should determine what information from pilots and crewmembers would be most useful for investigating laser incidents, and how best to collect the information and to share it with law enforcement."
2: "The FAA Administrator should improve its quarterly reports to Congress on laser incidents by routinely seeking information from other agencies on related federal investigation and enforcement actions and disclosing, in those reports, any limitations with the data."
3: "The FAA Administrator should work with FBI and FDA to explore re-establishing an interagency working group on outreach to educate the public on the hazards of lasers and the illegality of aiming lasers at aircraft."
From the GAO webpage about the report. It includes a link to the full 46-page report.
COMMENTARY FROM LASERPOINTERSAFETY.COM
While the three recommendations are useful, we are disappointed that the GAO report did not make a primary recommendation that FAA should require pilot training on how to handle laser illuminations. In our view, this is the single most important safety step that FAA could take.
The report does discuss this, beginning on page 30 with this paragraph:
"Most stakeholders told us that training pilots on how to respond to laser incidents is an important mitigation strategy. For example, representatives from an organization representing law enforcement pilots told us that training pilots in responding to laser incidents is important because there will always be laser incidents. These representatives said that even with effective public outreach and enforcement activities, there would be people intentionally trying to harm aircraft and that in these situations, it is important for pilots to know how to react. Additionally, representatives from a group representing pilots told us they recommend airlines develop and incorporate a laser strike training module at a minimum of every 2 years." (emphasis added)
However, the GAO report simply lists some pilot training efforts. It does not say that FAA should mandate this.
LaserPointerSafety.com has also recommended that pilots be exposed to safe, simulated laser light during simulator training. This gives a flavor of what a bright light disruption can be and helps "inoculate" pilots so they know what to do, just as they train for other aviation emergencies.