Christmas is the season for lit-up decoration, and flashing laser light displays are among the latest trends for home displays, but the FAA has issued a warning: Point the lasers at your house; if you point them up you could blind a pilot.
An FAA press release warned that “the extremely concentrated beams of laser lights reach much farther than you might realize.” A further warning came from FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, himself a former commercial pilot: “Many high-powered lasers can incapacitate pilots flying aircraft that may be carrying hundreds of passengers and crewmembers…a pilot can face temporary blindness or suffer an eye injury that can be permanent.”
FAA officials said they will work with state and local officials to deal with reported laser problems, and warned that intentionally shining a laser at an aircraft can result in civil and criminal penalties as high as $11,000 per violation. So far this year, FAA has had 8,550 laser strike reports, up more than 20% from last year.
