After Sunday's news that a green laser was pointed inside the cockpit of a JetBlue plane coming in for landing at JFK Airport, now it turns out that other pilots have also been bothered by green laser beams. WABC 7 reports that the FBI is investigating the incidents; FBI Supervisory Special Agent Richard Kolko said, "Interfering with a flight crew is a federal crime, interfering with aviation. So, the FBI has looked into many of these laser incidents over the last several years. We've located some of them, arrested some and several have been prosecuted."
WABC 7 shared the dialogue between the JetBlue pilot and air traffic control:
PILOT: There's a laser off to the left hitting JetBlue 607. It's green. It's on the water.
TOWER: I'm sorry 607. Say that again.
PILOT: Yeah, JetBlue 607. We saw a green laser coming from left about 10 miles straight out there. It was kind of inside the harbor....TOWER: Were they pointing it at you?
PILOT: Directly pointing right at us. I saw the flash to the left looked, looked out left as I was landing. Put my head down, put up the sun screen.
A retired pilot said, "There have been pilots that have been seriously injured" by laser beams, explaining, "Your eyes are looking inside and outside. You need all the visual cues you can get. If both pilots simultaneously are looking at this thing assuming it was wide enough to affect both pilots you would have real serious problems."
In 2006, a NJ man was arrested under the Patriot Act for pointing a laser at helicopter and planes.
