Handheld laser pointers
pointed at airplanes and helicopters represent a risk to flight safety,
according to the Finnish Transport Safety Agency. Officials launched an
anti-laser pointing campaign on Friday.
Ilkka Kaakinen from the
Finnish Transport Safety Agency (Trafi) says that laser pointers
interfering with air traffic is a real problem in Finland.
”We receive reports of
several cases of laser interference every month,” Kaakinen says, ”and
every one of them is potentially dangerous.”
If the light from a laser
pointer – a device intended for use in presentations – reaches a
pilot’s eye, they may be momentarily blinded and unable to operate the
aircraft’s machinery. Pilots themselves say the disturbances are a great
risk, says Kaakinen. Pilots are instructed to divert heir gaze is they
encounter laser interference, and to let their co-pilot man the control
device is they become momentarily blinded.
Last year, 60 cases of
laser pointer interference were reported, and the figure for this year
was at 58 last November. The United States reports the most laser
pointer interference, with the United Kingdom recording the most cases
in Europe.
Trafi, the Finnish
Pilots’ Association and the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority
launched a joint campaign against air traffic interference – “Lasers Are
Not Toys” – on Friday.
Source: http://yle.fi
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