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U.S. DOT Launches Laser Illumination Reporting
Unloaded writes "The
U.S. Department of Transportation announced a
new laser warning and reporting system for pilots . The
FAA has it's own guidelines for reporting laser illumination." This is a follow up on stories reported earlier.
It would appear that my army of sharks with frickin' laser beams on their foreheads is no longer feasible.
This makes me sad.
If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
Sure, if they want the pilots to be unable to see. Lasers can be in any wavelength of the EM spectrum. There's no way to block out all lasers without blocking out all light.
Personally, I prefer the extra safety of having pilots able to look at their surroundings.
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Open mind, insert foot.
Why can't this much effort be expended on creating a reporting and monitoring system for not loosing my luggage? Or how about for increasing on-time flight?. Or modernizing the radar systems?
Some guy in an apartment shines a laser that hits a plane and he's being treated like a terrorist. I haven't seen enough technical info that would convice me that an average laser on the ground would really be capable of causing a real problem. Perhaps outfit the pilots with $10 goggles or something.
Shoulder fired rockets are more likely to be a problem and we haven't spent the money to outfit planes with countermeasures; its cheaper to arrest people for pointing a laser and gives the appearance of being 'tough on terrorism'.
Simple.
a) Appear to be doing SOMETHING to KEEP US SAFE when actually doing worse than nothing;
b) criminalize civilians whenever possible;
c) check just how bloody gullible the public and media is.