FBI offering $10,000 reward for help catching people who point lasers at planes - Polidicks

[url]http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/02/11/275522012/fbi-offers-cash-reward-to-catch-people-who-point-lasers-at-planes[/url] [quote]The FBI is making a limited-time offer at 12 of its field offices across the nation from Albuquerque and Los Angeles to New York City and Washington, D.C.: During the next 60 days, if you help them catch someone aiming a laser pointer at a plane, the FBI is offering rewards of up to $10,000. "If you think this is a prank, I can assure you it is not," John Kitzinger, chief of the FBI Violent Crimes Unit, said in prepared remarks today. "This is a felony—a federal crime—for which you can be placed in federal prison for up to five years." That penalty became federal law in 2012. Last March, a man in California was sentenced to 30 months in prison for pointing a laser at a small jet. The FBI, along with the Federal Aviation Administration and the Air Line Pilots Association International, a union representing nearly 50,000 pilots, is also starting a campaign warning of the dangers of pointing laser points at pilots. The campaign will warn the public about the threat of lasers to aircraft via public service announcements and billboards.[/quote]

Reminds me of that Fin who'd go around pointing laser pointers as helicopters.

[quote]The campaign will warn the public about the threat of lasers to aircraft via public service announcements and billboards.[/quote] I could see this going horribly wrong with kids who might see this as a dare (because like it or not, some kids are troublemaking brats by nature)

[QUOTE=Simski;43884161]I could see this going horribly wrong with kids who might see this as a dare (because like it or not, some kids are troublemaking brats by nature)[/QUOTE] I agree. Nobody thinks of the idea to direct a laser pointer at a plane. They find out from someone else that it's a dangerous stunt and then they do it.

[QUOTE=Abrown516;43884239]I agree. Nobody thinks of the idea to direct a laser pointer at a plane. They find out from someone else that it's a dangerous stunt and then they do it.[/QUOTE] More money for people who report them then.

I sense a massive amounts of tips coming in, with 99% of them being false.

I wonder, would one way mirrors as windows (or behind the actual windows for strength reasons) be a decent way of making it so that the pilot isn't affected.

How does the laser pointer work? Does it disable/disrupt equipment? Or just have like 0.0002% chance of disturbing the pilot?

[QUOTE=Rankzerox;43884460]How does the laser pointer work? Does it disable/disrupt equipment? Or just have like 0.0002% chance of disturbing the pilot?[/QUOTE] more like 98% chance to distract the pilot, smaller chance to cause injury

suddenly, at once, thousands of people come in with videos of people doing it, all pranked into doing it.

[QUOTE=Rankzerox;43884460]How does the laser pointer work? Does it disable/disrupt equipment? Or just have like 0.0002% chance of disturbing the pilot?[/QUOTE] The troublemakers are using the overpowered laser pointers that are visible for miles. They're blinding if you look at them - and highly dangerous to one's eyesight. [t]http://i.imgur.com/KZHczSN.png[/t]

[QUOTE=Rankzerox;43884460]How does the laser pointer work? Does it disable/disrupt equipment? Or just have like 0.0002% chance of disturbing the pilot?[/QUOTE] Lasers expand, making the chances of causing trouble much higher

man you got to have one HELL of a steady hand to hit someone in the eye with a laser when they are so far away they arent even visible to the naked eye in an object moving quickly across the sky. The chance of them actually blinding the pilot is incredibly improbable. It's not a good thing to do, but the risk of something actually HAPPENING is so slim a witch hunt isnt really needed here.

-snip-

[QUOTE=Fatfatfatty;43884745]man you got to have one HELL of a steady hand to hit someone in the eye with a laser when they are so far away they arent even visible to the naked eye in an object moving quickly across the sky. The chance of them actually blinding the pilot is incredibly improbable. It's not a good thing to do, but the risk of something actually HAPPENING is so slim a witch hunt isnt really needed here.[/QUOTE] Did you not read that the lasers expand and reflect all over the cabin?

[QUOTE=Fatfatfatty;43884745]man you got to have one HELL of a steady hand to hit someone in the eye with a laser when they are so far away they arent even visible to the naked eye in an object moving quickly across the sky. The chance of them actually blinding the pilot is incredibly improbable. It's not a good thing to do, but the risk of something actually HAPPENING is so slim a witch hunt isnt really needed here.[/QUOTE] [img]http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RtKSdy2KAW4/0.jpg[/img] It doesn't have to hit them in the eye to pose a hazard so getting the number of people doing this down is definitely necessary.

[QUOTE=Fatfatfatty;43884745]man you got to have one HELL of a steady hand to hit someone in the eye with a laser when they are so far away they arent even visible to the naked eye in an object moving quickly across the sky. The chance of them actually blinding the pilot is incredibly improbable. It's not a good thing to do, but the risk of something actually HAPPENING is so slim a witch hunt isnt really needed here.[/QUOTE]It happens when they're landing and taking off, not at cruising altitude you plonker. Plus the aforementioned scattering of the beam.

[QUOTE=Fatfatfatty;43884745]man you got to have one HELL of a steady hand to hit someone in the eye with a laser when they are so far away they arent even visible to the naked eye in an object moving quickly across the sky. The chance of them actually blinding the pilot is incredibly improbable. It's not a good thing to do, but the risk of something actually HAPPENING is so slim a witch hunt isnt really needed here.[/QUOTE] the laser is not a tiny dot at that range because it scatters in the atmosphere, and the beam is constant so the chance is quite big as you can clearly see from the videos.

As a private pilot I can tell you I would be very pissed if you pointed a laser at me during a night flight. On a semi related note, light guns are used by ATC to signal aircraft during broken radio operations. [IMG]http://www.langleyflyingschool.com/Photos/PPL%20Canadian%20Aviation%20Regulations/TC_with_light_gun%5B1%5D.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h305/oakarff22/lightguncaution.gif[/IMG]

[QUOTE=Simski;43884161]I could see this going horribly wrong with kids who might see this as a dare (because like it or not, some kids are troublemaking brats by nature)[/QUOTE] To be fair I'm pretty sure that your bog standard laser pen isn't being used, it'd be dimmed well before it hits the plane, to do this you need like a multi hundred dollar laser pointer to do that shit.

this is even worse for these who fly gliders and similar low tec equiped airplanes e.g. ultra light planes ...

[QUOTE=Sgt Doom;43884998]It happens most when they're landing and taking off.[/QUOTE] Jesus, that could go really wrong. With a distraction of that size reflecting all over the cabin, that could cause serious error that there's just not any room for when you're in that position, that close to the ground. I mean, I could see some stupid kids just sitting in their lawn, pointing lasers at high altitude planes that cruise over their house--but you'd have to be a [I]real[/I] asshole to go stand near an airfield and point straight into the cockpit, just to fuck with some pilots. Especially with the clear risk that poses.

Yes, FBI, I would like to report several hundred people in Egypt. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjaW3QM2Nb8[[/media]

[QUOTE=Sgt Doom;43884998]It happens when they're landing and taking off, not at cruising altitude you plonker. Plus the aforementioned scattering of the beam.[/QUOTE] Well the more the ray scatters, the less intense the light will be.

If you're wearing night vision, a laser can look like the sun, and can also be confused for the IR targeting system on handheld surface-to-air missile.

[QUOTE=bravehat;43885514]To be fair I'm pretty sure that your bog standard laser pen isn't being used, it'd be dimmed well before it hits the plane, to do this you need like a multi hundred dollar laser pointer to do that shit.[/QUOTE] You can find one able to do this for $50

[QUOTE=Zenreon117;43886323]Yes, FBI, I would like to report several hundred people in Egypt. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjaW3QM2Nb8[[/media][/QUOTE] Damn I can't imagine what the pilot is thinking. Probably can't see shit.

Good. I love lasers, but people who deliberately point them at planes are the worst scum and deserve severe punishment.

[QUOTE=Fatfatfatty;43886844]Well the more the ray scatters, the less intense the light will be.[/QUOTE] It is still intense enough to cause an issue.

These lasers are scary as fuck. The more powerful ones can blind you faster than you can blink at close range. Apparently you just hear a pop as your retina melts.