Airline pilots have reported laser gun incidents, even in the past week, both near the Kauai airport at Lihue and near two airports on Maui. Now, the FBI has gotten involved regarding the dangerous situation. Beat of Hawaii editors are flying from Kauai to the mainland and back next week, so this is of personal concern, too.
“Pointing a laser at an aircraft is extremely dangerous and puts the lives of those on the aircraft and on the ground at risk. This action causes an imminent threat to aviation safety with the potential to cause grave danger. It is not a harmless prank, and the FBI, KPD, and MPD take these incidents very seriously.”
Steven Merrill. FBI Special Agent
Pilots have reported that while landing at Hawaii airports, their aircraft have been struck with green lasers. That has occurred over four Hawaii neighborhoods just recently.
The FAA said last year that dangerous laser strikes are at an all-time high.
The FAA reported nearly 10,000 reports from pilots in 2021. That represented a 41% increase from the previous year.
FBI Honolulu Field Office advisory now in effect.
The FBI in Honolulu, together with the police departments on Kauai and Maui, issued warnings yesterday regarding the lasers.
While this has been going on in Hawaii for years, to our knowledge, there have never been any arrests. Why? We can’t say. But in other places, this appears to be taken far more seriously.
20 years in prison and a $250K fine.
By federal law, the maximum sentence is up to five years for pointing a laser and 20 years if it is deemed interference with an aircraft. That is in addition to a possible fine of $250,000.
Last year, an Orange County man was convicted in a laser beam incident.
In Southern California, a recent conviction was noteworthy. Eric Jayson Suarez was sentenced last fall to 60 months in federal prison for intentionally pointing a laser pointer beam toward an in-flight Sheriff’s Department helicopter. It blinded the crew temporarily, endangering the lives of those in the air and potentially those on the ground.
The 48-year-old man pointed the high-intensity green laser from his car parked some 20 blocks away from the aircraft in flight. It struck the cockpit at least four times. Police somehow determined the man’s location where he was then arrested, and his laser found.
Green lasers and flights to Hawaii don’t mix.
Green lasers can obviously be dangerous to airliners. When pointed at an aircraft in flight, it can create distracting, potentially hazardous conditions by illuminating the cockpit, thus interfering with pilots’ ability to see and control the plane. This is even more dangerous during critical takeoff and landing.
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I am a pilot who has been hit by lasers twice, once in Wisconsin, and once while flying a medevac King Air into Honolulu.
The lasers these people are using are very, very bright and powerful. If you happen to be looking in the direction of one, you’ll see spots for awhile afterwards, just like looking straight into the sun. It makes landing the airplane substantially more difficult and risky.
It’s often difficult to pinpoint where the laser was coming from while flying a fast moving airplane. I wish there was a sure way to catch those bozos and get them arrested.
If you see someone on the ground shining a laser at an aircraft, please report it immediately to the police.
Here in Portland, Oregon, we have a helicopter flying over the airport approaches every night.
Has anyone discussed requiring laser-protective eyewear to protect pilots’ eyes while departing and landing? I had to wear protective eyewear when working with a laser during my college years in the early 1970s.
Hi Paul.
Thanks. Great question.
Aloha.
I agree lasers are extremely dangerous but can someone explain this to me? If the laser is coming from the ground, how is it getting in the pilots eyes if they are up in the air above where the light is coming from? Especially on Hawaii flights that are landing and taking off over water?
Hi Patrick.
Great question. Likely one of the cockpit guys here will give us a hand with the answer.
Aloha.
Since the anti tourism movement is very active on Maui the news of lasers attacks on aircraft is very disturbing. In my mind the FBI should focus the investigation on all active groups. These folks are terrorists, plain and simple.