Teen Sentenced to Prison For Lasering a Helicopter

[lyonsfam1]

It is federal offense to interfere with the operation of an aircraft. It can also blind the pilot because most are wearing night-vision and it only takes a second.

 

[geofry]

For those of you who keep going on about the harsh sentence for a little flash don't seem to understand the problem. This isn't the same as that dumbass shining the pointer in your eyes while you are driving a car. The car half drives itself anyway, as long as you stayed in your lane you'd be fine. A pilot that can't see can't fly...period. As soon as you loose your eyesight while flying you cannot tell which way you are heading, you can't tell which way is up, any feed back is fooled by your ears and the fact your up reference (your butt in the seat) happens to be attached to a moving platform so you'd will be suffering vertigo pretty quickly.

In sensory deprivation tests, most pilots will loose controll within a minute or two for normal straight and level flight, if they were doing a complicated manuever it was measured in seconds.

The guys is lucky he ONLY got 15 months for a crime which could have easily turned into manslaughter or if intentional be considered attempted murder.

 

[cp8427]

This is way the hell too much. The way I see it is that helicopter pilots should expect stuff like this in the first place. Their own damn fault for no being prepared prior to the incident.

 

[Guest]

Unless he has miraculous vision or was using binoculars, theres no way he would have been able to hit anywhere near a cockpit, let alone a pilots face. He probably just wanted to see if the laser would still be visible at that range, and he just happened to get massively unlucky by hitting a 2-inch target from something like 15000 feet. Sure he would deserve it if he was using binocs and deliberately trying to bother the pilots, but unless this was the case its just a case of an (admittedly not entirely bright) action that could easily have gone unnoticed going wrong because a 1 in something around a billion chance actually happened. Sure, its bad that the pilots got distracted, but 15 years for just pointing a laser pointer at the sky is hardly fair (again, assuming he was not using binoculars or something that made it actually feasible for him to do more than just point it in the helicopters general direction). This is much like someone going to prison or getting sued because they dropped a quarter (or any other small metal object) on the street and it happened to pop someone elses car tire and cause an accident. There (probably) was no harm intended and the chance that you would actually cause a problem is so slim its not something anyone worries about.

 

[tommysch]

[citation][nom]aevm[/nom]Only 15 months? This guy attempted multiple murder for fun. I'd say lock him up and lose the key.[/citation]

You should simply build a fence around the US of A while you're at it, oh wait its already happening lol.

 

[Guest]

The problem here is its another case of blaten bad law and bad application of laws. Under the patriot act he can be charge with terrorism which is probably what got him the 15 month in jail. It is very similar to the case where a adult was playing with his kid in the backyard with a laser pointer and it just so happens he lives near an airport. He got charged with the same thing because it hit a plane even though no damage or course correction was needed. He is facing same sentence and longer for playing with his kid. I mean come on no wonder I prefer living elsewhere

 

[koga73]

15 months... what?!
1 month would have sufficed and made him learn his lesson

I always wonder how these people get caught too... I mean I'm sure the helicopter pilots can see where it is coming from but how were they able to track it down to him? And what proof do they have that he did it?

 

[kkiddu]

'Remember everyone, laser pointers are best reserved for cats, not choppers.'

Don't let PETA catch you saying this.

 

[bildo123]

[citation][nom]superblahman123[/nom]Hold on.... The cop that killed a (maybe more than 1, don't remember) teenage girl because he was texting on a highway doing more than 100mph gets paid suspension and tons of probation, while a kid with a laser pointer miraculously hit a helicopter cockpit gets 15 months in prison? Seriously? What was the technical charge of all of this?.... The judicial system is a peice of work...[/citation]

You got that right, it's a piece of "something" (use your imagination).

 

[Stryter]

[citation][nom]kkiddu[/nom]'Remember everyone, laser pointers are best reserved for cats, not choppers.'Don't let PETA catch you saying this.[/citation]

Yea, you wouldn't want them to wag their finger at you and have to listen to their obnoxious arguments

 

[f-14]

[citation][nom]superblahman123[/nom]Hold on.... The cop that killed a (maybe more than 1, don't remember) teenage girl because he was texting on a highway doing more than 100mph gets paid suspension and tons of probation, while a kid with a laser pointer miraculously hit a helicopter cockpit gets 15 months in prison? Seriously? What was the technical charge of all of this?.... The judicial system is a peice of work...[/citation]
exactly! +1
they put lasers on toys now days and you know the gov.'t can still take these things off the market, and probably should since they are tied into weapon aiming systems if this is such a big problem that this is a crime for being a door knob. i also want to know what that helio pilot was doing so low to be in range of a motorist, the last i knew lasers had a 100' range and that is clearly restricted airspace that close to the ground and the FAA will yank that pilots lisc. for violating that & in city limits the pilot will also go to jail if said pilot was not taking off or landing in a designated zone.

 

[steelbox]

Seriously? A "normal" laser has no power to reach a helicopter that high up. That should have been a hell of a laser.

 

[LORD_ORION]

Seriously, something is wrong when a multi-million dollar hightech vehicle can be taken out by a $50 dollar laser pointer.

 

[mrecio]

The system is out of control. I highly doubt this guys intent was to bring down the helicopter. Its more of a lapse in judgement in what should of been a slap on the wrist. I do believe what the guy did was wrong and am glad the Police did catch up with him but the most they should of done was slap him with a court date and a fine+community service.

Sending this guy to prison for 15 months is only going to turn him into a real criminal. He wont make it in prison unless he becomes as violent as the rest of them in there or docile enough to just take the abuse he will certainly get. Either way this kid will be ruined when he gets out.

Prison should be reserved for repeat offenders and violent criminals that have proven they do not function in society (basically the last stop on the train) using it as a once size fits all punishment for anything from Murder and Rape to non violent drug charges and in this case irritating a chopper pilot with a laser point from 300 Meters

 

[Tmanishere]

[citation][nom]f-14[/nom].. the last i knew lasers had a 100' range and that is clearly restricted airspace that close to the ground and the FAA will yank that pilots lisc. for violating that & in city limits the pilot will also go to jail if said pilot was not taking off or landing in a designated zone.[/citation]

Green laser is apparently strong enough to hit the clouds. Google green laser.

 

[Ramar]

[citation][nom]geofry[/nom]For those of you who keep going on about the harsh sentence for a little flash don't seem to understand the problem. This isn't the same as that dumbass shining the pointer in your eyes while you are driving a car. The car half drives itself anyway, as long as you stayed in your lane you'd be fine. A pilot that can't see can't fly...period.[/citation]

I'm sorry, what? Planes have had autopilot since the 70's I'm pretty sure. Helicopters are probably another story, but you can't tell me a 19 year old kid had any idea what he was doing to the pilot's ability to fly.

When I was a kid, 17, I broke my school laptop. We were supposed to have a 300 dollar deposit to repair the thing or replace it if lost or stolen. One day it broke while some friends and I were hanging out, and we decided "Well, I've gotta pay 300 dollars anyway, won't hurt anyone if we see what [screwdrivers, drops onto concrete, etc] will do to it!" I came in, told them what had happened [was completely honest, the morning after I considered simply reporting it stolen] and the douchebag called in the school resource officer. When I got upset [17 year old dude crying from anxiety] because I'd never been in that kind of trouble before, the cop only laughed at me, like he couldn't wait to see me punished for breaking something that was already broken.

The school wanted to see me in prison for a year and pay them 1500 dollars for a laptop worth a fourth of that brand new.

They wanted it so badly that even after proving to three judges that this was ridiculous, the school kept calling for the trial to be pushed back for stupid things they were supposed to take care of before-hand.

I don't know why, but sometimes people are just dead-set on screwing over young people. I guarantee you he will be more messed up coming out than he was going in at that amount of time.

 

[Yoder54]

[citation][nom]bin1127[/nom]there are too many of these incidents and they need to set an example. it's hard to find the culprits so probably this is the best they could do. These kids are shooting lasers at anything, even jumbo jets. According to the pilots, the laser refracts around the whole cockpit and the glare disrupts their entire view. Jumbo jets guys. This is equivalent to a terrorist highjack.[/citation]

maybe the airline industry should hire more combat veteran pilots. Get shot at a few times and a laser pointer would seem like a nice fireworks show.

The real problem is that after a few high-balls the laser pointer induces a state of nausea. Having a few and flying is "OK," but heaven forbid you get sick and loose your cookies in the cabin...not a good way to make/keep friends.

 

[rubix_1011]

Explain to me how the helicopter pilot was able to ID the car, report it and then have the car tracked down. If they pilot couldn't see well enough to fly, how was it able to identify a vehicle moving on the ground well enough to pinpoint the culprit?

 

[jgiron]

a few things about this story does not seem right. First, I have never heard of a laser pointer that can reach that high into the sky to 'hit anything'. They are designed for short distances, like a class room setting. Second, how does a laser pointer distract a helicopter pilot over a 1000ft off the ground and make them loose their barrings? This is more pilot error than anything else. Finally, how in the world are you going to find a person who just shined the laser light at you after you just lost your barring from over a 1000 ft from the ground?
I also agree that 15 months is crazy, the punishment does not fit the crime.

What's next, they're going to arrest kids for firing their 'light up laser guns' at planes and helicopters.

 

[dustcrusher]

I'm glad I read the original article, and even they left out a couple of details that would clarify the circumstances.

The kid pointed the laser at a police chopper that was investigating a burglary. The chopper pilots report being blinded by "a bright green light." Mr. Yam's version leaves out those important details.

The original story doesn't even mention what kind of laser we're talking about- "bright green light" makes me think one of those bigger green lasers, not a little office pointer. We don't know for sure and who knows if we will.

Unless there's evidence this was a crime of extreme ignorance, he's getting what he deserved.