Ladies and Gentlemen, the pilot has been temporarily blinded

Does this set off any "BS" alarms with anyone else besides me?

Laser Blinds Pilot

Banach's lawyer, Gina Mendola-Longarzo, said her client was simply using the hand-held device to look at stars with his daughter on the family's deck. She said Banach bought the device on the Internet for $100 for his job testing fiber-optic cable.

The jet, a chartered Cessna Citation, was coming in for a landing last Wednesday with six people aboard when a green light beam struck the windshield three times at about 3,000 feet, according to court documents. The flash temporarily blinded both the pilot and co-pilot, but they were later able to land the plane safely, authorities said.

A laser for $100 that could temporarily blind a pilot travelling at an altitude of 3,000 feet? And since he couldn't be overhead, he'd have to be further away than that. Even shelling out $100 for a laser wouldn't give it blinding powers from that far away.

And its a green laser. For testing fiber optic cable. Doesn't communications-grade fiber always used 650nm (red) laser light?

And around the country, various people have been using green lasers they bought on the internet to temporarily blind pilots. Uh-huh. Very little of this sounds right to be for some reason.

I knew I'd seen these around before, but I couldn't find them.

Here you go: (emphasis mine) from XADS

From their online store:

" XADS does not sell StunStrike weapons to the general public, but we do offer some other items for sale through our online store."

The Photonic Disruptor series of laser dazzlers are designed to flash-blind and disorient an aggressor with eye-safe lasers. The products under the Photonic Disruptor series include:

* The PDLP - Personal Defense Laser Pointer, a high powered, green beam laser pointer. As a presentational aid, the PDLP offers an acute range with a protracted reach of up to 200 meters. Because of the intensity and built-in adjustability of this beam, the PDLP can also be utilized as a potent deterrent against a potential attacker by delivering a disorienting effect from an extended distance. The PDLP is a practical and convenient tool for the individual with personal safety in mind. Available now at our online store.
* PD/G - Photonic Disruptor/Green; a long-range, much more powerful green laser system for military and law-enforcement applications, with effective ranges of up to 2000 meters.
* BluDazzle™; the first Blue Beam dazzler available for military and law enforcement applications; it is a medium range (500 meters) weapon with the ability to defeat green laser filters.

Dazzlers offer a lower cost alternative to lethal force in some circumstances, particularly at night. The systems will work in daylight, but to a much lesser degree. However, as we develop our technology, we will make what we do have available for the protection of our customers.

I don't know what to make of any of that. What I do know is that many places that sell astronomy stuff are selling green laser pointers (example) to allow you to point out specific items of interest in the sky. So, there are now significantly more green laser pointers being aimed into the air than there were, say a year ago.

Dazzlers are disturbingly neat devices. A History Channel demonstration shows that they are so bright they blind and the rate of flashing makes them almost nauseating to look into. They'll put you on the ground, quick.

The green laser pointers are much more noticeable than the red ones, but they still only have a maximum output of 5mW. I don't see how that could possibly blind or even be visible by a pilot.

Mmm... green is pretty, though.

Of course, when speaking of lasers and other really cool stuff, one can not possibly go on without mentioning the truly amazing stuff available out there! Oh, baby -- 100mW in green...

Kitsune wrote:

Of course, when speaking of lasers and other really cool stuff, one can not possibly go on without mentioning the truly amazing stuff available out there! Oh, baby -- 100mW in green...

No shit, I'd like to add the EMP400 to my car, firing out of the rear at those monkeys that insist on auto audio that vibrates my rear-view mirrors.

The power of the 100 milliwatt system is easily demonstrated by pointing the laser at a flat black surface and note the impact point burning and smoking.

Now....where can I buy a shark...

I started hearing about this last November.

While the sucker who got busted for it was probably just fooling around (not minimizing what he did - just saying I don't think he was up to no good).

My real concern is that some of these are tests/preludes to laser-guided rockets.

Beestie wrote:

I started hearing about this last November.

While the sucker who got busted for it was probably just fooling around (not minimizing what he did - just saying I don't think he was up to no good).

My real concern is that some of these are tests/preludes to laser-guided rockets.

Nah, you don't need lasers that are that powerful or even visible to the naked eye for that matter.

And for the do it yourselfers;

Make A Green Laser Pointer Up To 500 Times Brighter Than Anything Currently Available!!!
Diode Pumped Solid State
[COLOR=DarkRed]Up To 300 mw Output [/COLOR]
532 nm Green
Battery Operated
High Efficiency
LAGRN1DP - Data Pack - Information on "How to Build" , includes CWL5 plans.......................$20.00 :eek:

xoxoxoBruce wrote:

And for the do it yourselfers;... :eek:

Yeah, Information Unlimited has been a favorite browsing (read as post lottery winning) spot for long time now.

Oh the fun to be had...

Is it just my imagination gone silly or does that Banach fella look like a chunky Michael Douglas from ten years ago sporting a quiff?

this is happening at several airports around the country. there were a couple of reports at Phoenix Sky Harbor last week. if it was just one incident i wouldn't give it another thought, but do we really have that many idiots in the country that don't understand that pointing a laser at a cockpit is a bad thing?

Can someone explain to me how a person, without a scope, can hit a 4x2 foot group of windows with a pin-point laser of a jet going 200-300 mph and at least 3000 feet away?

Can someone explain to me how a person, without a scope, can hit a 4x2 foot group of windows with a pin-point laser of a jet going 200-300 mph and at least 3000 feet away?

From below as well.

Wow. You can tell that it is rather unfounded if they needed to use the Patriot Act to get the arrest warrent...

Sure, drag him in, go through everything he owns, try to build a case and if you can't just try someone else. Sooner or later you'll find something to charge someone. :(