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FBI: $10,000 Reward For Info On Anyone Who Points a Laser At an Aircraft

Posted by timothy on from the issue-sunglasses dept.

coondoggie writes "Here's a good idea: The FBI has launched a targeted, 60-day program that will offer up to a $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of anyone who intentionally aims a laser at an aircraft. The FBI said the laser-pointing scourge continues to grow at an alarming rate. Since the FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration began tracking laser strikes in 2005, there has been ridiculous 1,000% increase in the number of laser pointing/aircraft incidents. Last year, 3,960 laser strikes against aircraft were reported — an average of almost 11 incidents per day."

2 of 445 comments (clear)

  1. So..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Laser pointers are arbitrarily cheap and getting cheaper. The action of pointing them at an aircraft is arbitrarily easy. The action is motivated by basic human curiosity.

    How is any sort of enforcement ever going to stop this behavior?

    Shouldn't they be looking at a different solution here?

    1. Re:So..... by farble1670 · · Score: 1, Troll

      The *potential* damage could be a few hundred dead people at the end of a runway. It's not that they're damaging to the eye, they're distracting. When cats start flying aircraft, maybe people will be prosecuted.

      what about the potential damage of throwing snowballs at cars? very distracting to the driver. should the FBI get involved? turn in your neighbor? i can assure you that the number of snowballs thrown at cars far outweighs the number of laser pointers shined at planes.

      we shouldn't be wasting time trying to speculate on potentially harmful actions. we have plenty of real, unquestionable harmful actions to investigate.

      p.s., i really hope that between the captain, first officer, and flight engineer, they could avoid crashing the plane in the case of a distracting light.