ILDA Pushes for Pilot Training
Laser/Aircraft Incidents Highlight Information Gap

Jan. 2005: Amid a flurry of media reports about pilots being exposed to dangerous laser beams, and the US government’s dire warning that terrorists might use relatively inexpensive lasers to attack aircraft, ILDA continued to represent the voice of the laser entertainment industry before government officials.

Thanks to the help of Pangolin Laser Systems, ILDA sent former ILDA President Patrick Murphy to attend the recent meeting of the foremost aviation group addressing issues of lasers and air safety. Murphy reported that a new pilot education program is underway that promises to better familiarize pilots with the hazards unregulated lasers pose and help pilots cope with the visual distraction they can cause.

The other good news from the recent SAE G-10T committee meeting, said Murphy, was that committee members saw no need for increased regulation of laser shows or laser pointers, despite the spate of recent reports regarding pilot exposure. “But people doing outdoor shows should be more careful than ever, as the recent arrest of a New Jersey man who pointed a laser at an aircraft shows the government wants to send a message,” said Murphy

SAE G-10T is the premier aviation group working on problems relating to lasers and aircraft. It includes pilots, federal officials, military personnel, safety experts and industry representatives such as ILDA. Murphy, along with other ILDA members such as Greg Makhov, have worked with the committee in the past. More recently, Roberta McHatton has attended meetings with support from LFI International.

Pilot Information Program a Priority

ILDA for years has pressed for pilot information and simulator training programs. “We felt it was the last line of defense and a relatively inexpensive one,” said Murphy, as preliminary work with simulators shows that pilots become familiar with laser light after only two or three exposures and find they can concentrate much better once they understand the nature of the effect. A draft of the proposed training program should be available when the committee meets this summer. The program is reportedly on a fast-track development schedule, with the hope of launching it within a year.

None of the recent aircraft incidents involved laser entertainment displays, which are governed by a set of rules developed through ILDA’s past work with SAE G-10T. After the 1996 incidents of pilot exposure by Las Vegas entertainment displays, ILDA helped draft regulations used by FAA, Transport Canada and European safety organizations to regulate outdoor laser shows. It is safe to say that outdoor shows might have been shut down if ILDA had not participated.

Lasers and Airplanes: Common Misperceptions

The wave of reports of US aircraft illuminated by lasers highlights in late 2004 and early 2005 highlights need for the public and US Safety officials to better understand the nature of laser technology. A number of inaccurate statements have been repeated by US government officials and the media regarding the hazard level posed by lasers.

A joint memo by the US Dept. of Homeland Security and FBI, for example, warned that terrorists might use inexpensive, off-the-shelf lasers to blind airline pilots in flight. Safety calculations performed using internationally accepted exposure levels show this is not the case. The energy necessary to cause a permanent eye injury at a distance of 1,500 meters would require in excess of 15 watts of laser power and the use of  specialized optics to focus the beam. Such a laser setup would cost upwards of $50,000 and would need a highly skilled operator.

Laser Shows Strictly Regulated

This type of laser projector is not used or sold by any laser light show company. Moreover, anyone who purchases an entertainment laser projector in the US must obtain a variance form the Food and Drug Administration before purchasing the unit and must provide prior notice of all laser shows. Outdoor shows comply with strict rules that keep laser beams away from airports and mandate the use of human "spotters" to monitor the skies and shut down the laser show if a plane approaches the display.

Although federal authorities initially sounded a warning about terrorists, an FBI spokesman subsequently stated that the rash of recent illuminations of aircraft by lasers all involved pranks. He described the exposures as a "nuisance." Even a spokesperson for an association representing airline pilots discounted the threat lasers posed to aviation, saying lasers would not be a highly effective weapon against aircraft.

Pointers Don't Blind, But are Annoying

A New Jersey man was recently arrested by the FBI for allegedly illuminating the cockpit of an aircraft with a laser pointer. The aircraft was traveling at a speed of 250 knots at an altitude of 3,000 feet. The man was using a commonly available, over-the-counter laser rated at 5.0 milliwatts of power. It would require the combined output of several thousand of these lasers, all focused in a single beam, to cause eye damage to a pilot flying at the distance involved.

The common 5.0 milliwatt laser pointer cannot cause eye damage beyond fifty feet, and at a distance of 3,000 feet it is classified as a distraction. Laser pointers, even at distances of a 300 feet, constitute a hazard (under the worst of circumstances) similar to the glare from an oncoming car's headlights or the flash from a point-and-shoot camera. While this can impair the vision of some people, the effect is temporary and does not cause permanent damage.

The laser display industry joins other safety officials in urging the public to never aim a laser pointer at anyone's eyes or at the operator of a vehicle. At the same time, the public should understand that the threat pointers pose is primarily one of nuisance---they are a visual distraction and will not cause eye damage unless a person stares directly into the beam for an extended period.

FAA Studies Show No Injuries or Accidents

A recent Federal Aviation Administration analysis of 150 incidents involving lasers that illuminated aircraft found no cases of injuries or accidents. Although there have been anecdotal reports of permanent injuries suffered by pilots, there has never been a case supported by an ophthalmological examination made available to the public for study.

Even under the worst of circumstances--involving lasers used in Las Vegas in the mid-1990s--officials never documented a single injury or accident caused by a laser display. The lasers on the Las Vegas strip were thousands of times more powerful than laser pointers and exposed pilots at low altitudes who were landing and departing from the nearby airport.

ILDA continues to study  lasers and air safety and offers to work with safety authorities to further explore the issue and educate the public.

For more information, contact ILDA or the chair of the ILDA Safety Committee.