Pointing lasers at an aircraft can have serious consequences
13 On Your Side's Vanessa Gongora spoke with the Yuma Police Department about the consequences you can face
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Laser danger.
Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma said pointing lasers at an aircraft is dangerous because it can affect their eyesight and is against the law.
It happens about six or seven times a year just on the Yuma airbase, according to Lt. Tyler Joseph Grubic, Aerospace and Operational Physiologist for Marine Aircraft Group 13.
This mostly happens when the aircraft is lower to the ground because the closer you are to the laser beam, the stronger it's going to be.
"So these are times when the pilot really needs to be paying attention. You're either taking off or landing and that's really the worst time for anything to happen," said Lt. Grubic.
The laser can jeopardize where they land and can permanently injure the pilot's eyes, cutting their flying career short.
After hitting the retina, it can kill some of the photoreceptors in the eye.
"And even worse if it goes a little bit more downstream of that. It can hit your optic nerve which supplies all the blood to the eye and sends the signal to and from the eyes," explained Lt. Grubic. "So you're talking about total vision loss or slight vision loss."
This reminder comes after an 18-year-old man in Yuma was caught on June 26 pointing a laser at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter and charged with a felony.
Officer Christina Fernandez with the Yuma Police Department (YPD) said there are consequences to your actions.
"If it's intentionally, knowingly pointing the laser at an aircraft it can be a felony," said Fernandez. "If it's reckless behavior, the consequence is a misdemeanor. On top of that, additional charges can be placed on the person."
As far as how the laser is tracked down?
"The thing with lasers is typically they'll either be pulsed or static and from there you can usually see the trail from where it came from," said Lt. Grubic. "And then secondly depending on if it's military or civilian airlines, we'll be able to see with our different equipment on the aircraft where it potentially came from."
He said they don't take lasers lightly.
"These aircraft systems are meant to find and locate threats so if that is the threat at that time, we pretty much do a good job being able to locate where that's at."
YPD would like to remind the public, lasers are not a toy.
"We really want folks to understand that when they're out there with the lasers those are usually intended for PowerPoint presentations or playing with your cat," said Fernandez. "They're not something we want them using with anyone who is operating vehicles or aircraft because they can cause a dangerous situation."
Lt. Grubic said if you want to use lasers responsibly and safely, please use eye protection and know it's not to play around with.
