Laser Injures Delta Pilot's Eye

stormfish writes "The Washington Times is reporting that laser light from an unknown source injured a pilot's eye as he was flying a Boeing 737 from Dallas to Salt Lake City. A 5 milliwatt laser pointer is strong enough to damage a person's eye, and stronger laser's are not that hard to come by. Unfortunately, having pilots wear colored laser safety glasses would be impractical as that would make it impossible to interpret the colored symbols on paper maps and cockpit displays."

Comments

Re:You won't make LIGHT of the problem?

[MoxCamel]

D'oh, I didn't even realize the pun.

Hey lookit me, I'm a comedian and didn't even know it. Do you hear that Jon Stewart? I'm coming after your job!

Weapons of Mass Distraction

[Cryofan]

The boogeyman gonna getcha unless you re-elect Bush. If kerry is president, there gonna be all kinda terraists running round with lasers blinding people.

BOO!

The Washington Times is not a reliable news source

[Augusto]

I'm surprised to see this article here, the Washington Times is about as reputable as the National Enquirer. I have no idea if the story is true or not, but I'm to the point with the "Times" that I just dismiss anything that was written by it's reporters.

And let's not forget who the bizarre owner of this "news source" is, isn't he claiming to be God incarnate?

Re:I've seen this too -- it happened to me.

[InfiniteWisdom]

If you RTFA there is exactly this kind of incident mentioned. Apparenty having pilots' eyes damaged by laser is not unheard of. Nothing new about this one other than the fact that everything these days is about the "terrorists"

BOO!! TERRORIST!

Re:Sigh...another reference to terrorism

[Twirlip of the Mists]

But please...is every new way to hurt somebody going to be another weapon in the terrorist arsenal?

Yes. We're in the middle of a world war. Please get serious and stop whining.

It's nothing personal. You just asked is all.

Re:coat cockpit windows instead

[Timothy Brownawell]

Eh, I seriously doubt that a laser would have to be anywhere close to as bright as sunlight to be dangerous. The trouble is that the light's all going in exactly the same direction, and focusses to a really small spot on your eye when you look at it.

Tim

MOD PARENT UP

[RevDobbs]

Or maybe it's because at least some americans realize that tools don't hurt people, people hurt people.

That's the funniest shit I've read here all hour.

Re:Easy to get these lasers...

[Striikerr]

This would be the laser targeting assistance system he needs to hunt deer, squirrels and wabbits with his high-powered, fully automatic assault rifle with a 50 round drum and armor piercing rounds (well, those are pesky wabbits so let's include a mix of incendiary rounds in there).. At least, I am sure that this is how owning such a laser would be justified.. "We need it to help us hunt! It's our right!" ;-)
Soon he'll have a laser strong enough to flash fry the animal before it hits the ground.. or at least in 45 seconds. (45 seconds? But I want it now!)

Re:Easy to get these lasers...

[npross]

What a facile argument.

Let's rephrase,

For the hobbiest that wants to get PLUTONIUM, and the business that needs them, you are just creating unnecessary headaches due to the irresponsible actions of a very few people.

Obviously the restrictive regulations around the refining and distrubution of fissile materials are to protect us from the few that would do us harm DESPITE the fact that easier access to these materials could have advanced nuclear science more quickly.

By you're rekoning we should let people have unrestricted access to Anthrax, Smallpox, Surface to Air Missiles, Nerve Gas, etc...