Laser Pointing at Aircraft Increasing
The US FBI has been working with the FAA and the Air Line Pilots Association to crack down on people pointing lasers at aircraft. "Reported incidents of laser attacks on aircraft in flight in the US have increased more than 1,000 percent since 2005, according to the FAA, from 283 up to 3,960 in 2013 - an average of 11 incidents a day."Per the Air Line Pilots Association, " reports of aircraft laser illuminations in the U.S. have increased sharply over the past few years from 2836 in 2010 to 3,960 last year."
Sergio Patrick Rodriguez, 26, now has the dubious distinction of being sentenced to "14 years in federal prison, a term prosecutors believe to be among [California's] longest for such a crime." Rodriguez's gang membership and criminal record were likely factors in his sentence, as was using a laser that is called 13 times more powerful than most laser pointers.
Has anyone seen this happen? Or experienced it as a pilot or aircraft passenger?
If this became a really serious problem then I could see regulating laser pointers to be all the same color, but as the other poster pointed out this doesn't seem to be nearly dangerous enough to be worth the attention (and prison sentences) that it's getting.
If this is such a big deal, why haven't we heard all the stories about car accidents caused by people blinding drivers on the highway?