As families put up holiday light displays at their homes this year, the Federal Aviation Administration is asking them to be mindful of making sure laser light displays are pointed at the house and not at the sky. They can cause a distraction or temporary blindness to pilots.
The FAA said Friday that homeowners may not be aware of just how far those laser lights can travel. Laser strikes have been reported as high as 10,000 feet, according to FAA data.
"So please make sure all laser lights are directed at your house and not pointing towards the sky," the agency said in a statement. "The extremely concentrated beams of laser lights reach much farther than you might realize."
The FAA said display owners who violate the policy will get a warning, but failure to fix it could lead to hefty penalties.
"We may impose civil penalties of up to $11,000 per violation," the FAA said. "Civil penalties of up to $30,800 have been imposed by the FAA against individuals for multiple laser incidents."
Laser strikes -- intentional or unintentional -- are a growing problem. The FAA said it has already received 8,550 laser strike reports in 2021, the most ever in a single year. It's already 1,700 more reports than all of 2020 combined.
Peak activity for laser strikes happens Friday and Saturday, according to FAA data. Over the last six years, incidents have tended to ramp up in November and December.
Laser strike records were first compiled in 2010. Between 2010 and 2020, California, Texas and Florida have reported the most total laser events. But the most per capita over that time have happened in Hawaii (63.71 per 100,000 people) followed by the District of Columbia (56.11) and Nevada (45.32).
Just what we need as a "free" country...the freakin FAA violating homeowners for their Christmas lights. What a load of horse manure
ReplyDeleteLaser Christmas lights are an anti-social abomination. What has this country come to that people are now so lazy that they can't be bothered to string lights like people have done for decades and just want to throw a box on their front lawn to shoot laser lights at it so they can go back to stuffing their faces on the couch. I will make it my mission to report any violators I find that let their laziness affect critical flight safety.
DeleteYou know we have phones now that don't even have lines connected to them? We have made some progress. I bet you refuse to fly an aeroplane that has electric/digital display flights instruments also
Delete"Free country" doesn't give ANYONE the right to interfere with safe air travel. The story is directed at LASER lights, not traditional Christmas lights, if you had bothered to thoroughly read the article. No one needs LASER lights as part of a home Christmas display. That's just stupid.
ReplyDeleteI guess you got triggered? I read the article well, just like the poster above and I have to agree with him. You keep supporting the jack boots until they kick your door in. It will be too late then...
DeleteChristmas lights? Really? I've been lit up in the big jet numerous times from real lasers and it is usually a non-event. Decorative lights lack the intensity to do any real damage beyond 1/4 mile. This is over-reach.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how the FAA balances the situation with people who are doing astronomical stargazing and use laser pointers or designators as guidance devices, and a plane then flies through that beam that is already there? Who would be at fault?
ReplyDeleteIf your ground based pointer isn't lined up with an approach and pointing up the glide slope, the moment when the spot was visible at flight speed would be too short to notice.
DeleteExcept for lighting up a helicopter low overhead, few people could line up a laser illuminator on a moving aircraft without a sighting device attached to it. The laser exposure issue is mostly a pattern and approach phase concern.