Teen Sentenced to Prison For Lasering a Helicopter

[Guest]

People are hugely missing the point because most people don't know how dangerous lasers can actually be. That stuff kills. We are talking attempted manslaugter here at the least depending on how much he knew about what he was doing. If he was shooting a gun at the helicopter without the intention of actually hitting it just to "mess around" and hit a pilot we would take that seriously, regardless of his intention or level of stupidity.

That said, locking away a teenager for a year and a half for stupidity is completely the wrong way to go about it as it permanently effs up his life. A more sane legal system would do something like break his leg in two or three places, patch him up and keep him a way from painkillers while it heals then call bygones bygones unless he re-offends.

 

[shadowamazon]

you guys obviously haven't watched this video, this laser made by Wicked Lasers is currently on sale in the US in defiance of FDA regulations. 15 months is just right for this dumb kid.

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-SduY4A2kE

 

[jj463rd]

[citation][nom]flyboy86[/nom]The guy was endangering not only the crew on the helicopter but also bystanders on the ground. If the pilots lost control of the aircraft and crashed into a house, well then he would be charged with those deaths as well. Laser pointers might make a nice little pin point on a white board fifteen feet away but shine it at something 700 feet away and that little dot is about 10 feet in diameter.Lastly as I am an Instrument rated pilot, if you do get disoriented while flying, whether it be from flying into clouds or being blinded by a laser you must rely on your flight instruments to keep you flying straight and level. If you can't see your instruments you can't fly straight. Even seasoned pilots can become disoriented.[/citation]
All one has to do is to use a collimater (telescope,rifle scope etc) to reduce spot size with a LASER .With 10X magnification the spot size will be reduced approx 10 times.With 100X magnification the beam size initially will be 100 as large but at an extreme distance of dozens of miles the spot size will be approx 100 times smaller at the target.

 

[mados123]

Just another example of judges trying to keep the Prison-Industrial Complex going - and this is no joke. Check out the chart for a quick visual.

http/upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/US_incarceration_timeline-clean.svg

http/www.nytimes.com/2009/02/14/us/14judge.html

 

[tommysch]

[citation][nom]shadowamazon[/nom]you guys obviously haven't watched this video, this laser made by Wicked Lasers is currently on sale in the US in defiance of FDA regulations. 15 months is just right for this dumb kid.http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-SduY4A2kE[/citation]

They are still perfectly legal to buy in the land of the free (read: Canada).

 

[Guest]

All you have to do is look away you know. It only interferes if you are looking straight at it. Both the pilot and the laser boy are stupid here.

 

[jj463rd]

[citation][nom]TommySch[/nom]They are still perfectly legal to buy in the land of the free (read: Canada).[/citation]
Class 4 Laser systems are legal to own in the U.S. I have a 10 joule output pulse power supplied neodymium glass LASER system (infrared) that I bought in 1992.If I changed the rod and optics I could easily convert it into a Ruby LASER.The most dangerous visible blinding LASER's are Class 4 Pulsed Power Supplied Flashlamp pumped Chemical Dye LASER's with dyes like Rhodamine 6G.These are especially dangerous because the light emitted is generally emitted in around 500 nanoseconds.Back in the early 1960's it was discovered that LASER radiation emitted in 1/2000th of a second would be 10 times are destructive as the same radiation emitted continuously (The Gillette Razor test (burning holes in razor blades)) .Basically the LASER radiation from a flashlamp pulsed chemical dye LASER is almost 100 times as dangerous as continuous LASER radiation or almost 10 times as dangerous or destructive as that of a flashlamp pumped Ruby LASER.
With Chemical Dye LASER's one can just change the dye chemical to the desired range of light spectrum

 

[Guest]

Crazy Americans chill.Its just a laser.

 

[thechief73]

This was definatly a really dumb move on the kids part, common sence is becoming a rarity, but unless he was shining the thing at the chopper for a prolonged amount of time or really trying to cause the pilot to lose control, 15 months seems to be crule and unusual punishment.

Make him tour local schools and give a presentation on the dangers of using lasers and add a bunch of community service hours on top of that, dont put him away for 15months for a stupid spur of the moment mistake. But more information is needed on the story to pass judgement, if he intended to cause harm the punisment probably is fitting.

 

[ulysses35]

should have given him longer... the possibility of causing a crash with a real chance of fatalities... plus being stupid for owning a laserr pointer anyway...

only in america

 

[stromm]

Teen implies "not adult". Anyone 18 and older is an ADULT.

Please stop the politically motivated used of teen for people clearly adults.

 

[TheWhiteRose000]

Don't drop the soap.

 

[Khimera2000]

I can see this happening. all he has to do is point up at night. ever heard of a FLIR. the laz can damage the NVGs on the pilots (about$10 - $15000) each. in which case if the kid hit the cockpit depending on its position he can easily blind both pilot and co pilot. those whe say otherwise dont know what there talking about. theres a reason why the flight deck is dark on all the carrier night landing vids. Id say he was lucky just to get that sentance. pilots are trained to avoid threats theres a reason why law inforsmant frowns on you pointing lasers from the second floor. since theres no easy way to tell if theres a massive rifle at the end of that laz, or a normal pen.

and if it was not at night, the FLIR would see that laz bright as day from miles off. the piolet would of seen a person holding a device in his hand, in a car, painting there vehicle with something that might be a makeshift weapon or could be a painting device for another makeshift weapon.

FYI if the flir was damaged (if based on the same tech as NVGs dont remember) it would cost 750,000 to repair, or 1.2million to replace. if all three of these devices where damaged in any way the kid would of had to pay a min of $780,000 masing out at 1,230,000. Do you have that much to fork out?

 

[jj463rd]

[citation][nom]khimera2000[/nom]I can see this happening. all he has to do is point up at night. ever heard of a FLIR. the laz can damage the NVGs on the pilots (about$10 - $15000) each. in which case if the kid hit the cockpit depending on its position he can easily blind both pilot and co pilot. those whe say otherwise dont know what there talking about. theres a reason why the flight deck is dark on all the carrier night landing vids. Id say he was lucky just to get that sentance. pilots are trained to avoid threats theres a reason why law inforsmant frowns on you pointing lasers from the second floor. since theres no easy way to tell if theres a massive rifle at the end of that laz, or a normal pen.and if it was not at night, the FLIR would see that laz bright as day from miles off. the piolet would of seen a person holding a device in his hand, in a car, painting there vehicle with something that might be a makeshift weapon or could be a painting device for another makeshift weapon.FYI if the flir was damaged (if based on the same tech as NVGs dont remember) it would cost 750,000 to repair, or 1.2million to replace. if all three of these devices where damaged in any way the kid would of had to pay a min of $780,000 masing out at 1,230,000. Do you have that much to fork out?[/citation]
Yes FLIR's can be easily targeted and knocked out by high power IR LASER's or high power Pulsed LASER's too.However it would require an expensive set up by a LASER sniper.
There are protective filters which can greatly mitigate common specific wavelengths but can't defend against an uncommon wavelength or variable tuned wavelength.

 

[namecnassianer]

Yeah Marcus Yam, you think you are being clever with the comment about lasers being for cats. Here's news: you are less clever that the person who lasered the copter.

Both of you need to grow the frell up.

 

[K2N hater]

Justice for all! Now let that judge jail the sun, the city lights, weather and birds as well.

 

[Khimera2000]

[citation][nom]jj463rd[/nom]Yes FLIR's can be easily targeted and knocked out by high power IR LASER's or high power Pulsed LASER's too.However it would require an expensive set up by a LASER sniper.There are protective filters which can greatly mitigate common specific wavelengths but can't defend against an uncommon wavelength or variable tuned wavelength.[/citation]

Cool i think i fell asleep in class when they talked about that specific part of the FLIR. :-S but i do know that NVG goggles are easily fried, like turining it on for a second accidently in a room will kill them. I kinda did it a time or two :-S... however it is neet to see an entire room lit up by a light the size of a pin hole.

 

[Guest]

If the PD thought the laser was attached to a weapon

[since that is how they use lasers]

that would explain the avoidance maneuver.

If the PD were attempting to identify [plate] a speeding/fleeing vehical,

that would explain the low altitude.

 

[JOSHSKORN]

[citation][nom]Igot1forya[/nom]Harden Criminal: "What are you in for?"Teen: "Miss use of a laser pointer"Harden Criminal: "I'm in murder, and soon to be rape."[/citation]
Don't you mean "Hardon?"...after that last line. LOL

 

[thegreathuntingdolphin]

I agree that 15 months is a too much. But what the guy did was beyond stupid.

These is a lot of misinformation going around:
1) Lasers are capable of going much further than 100 feet....hell my $5 red one goes close to a thousand! The more powerful laser "pens" from places like wicked lasers are viewable miles away. Green is usually better than red generally, but it really depends on the power of the laser. If it was just a 5mW one (standard laser pen), it wouldn't be too bad. However, you can buy 200mW green lasers for only $70 that are very powerful. A bit more and you can get some green ones that can burn through electrical tape. For $300 you can get a 1W blue laser that can freakin burn your eyes instantly.
2) According to the original story, the helicopter was only 700 feet off the ground. The moron 19 year old shined the light into the cockpit of a California Highway Patrol helicopter. It was responding to a burglary call (that is why it was so low).
3) The man was charged with "felony count of interference with an operator of an aircraft". He admitted that he knowingly fired the laser at police helicopter.

Again, I think 15 months and 3 years of supervised release are too much. But the man was an idiot for knowingly firing a green laser at a police helicopter that was only 700 feet above the ground.