Shining laser light into cockpit could cause crash – SVG Air pilot
DeFreitas shared his concerns yesterday, three days after a LIAT flight travelling from Barbados to St Vincent had to return to Barbados after the pilot reported that a laser light was beamed into the cockpit of the aircraft while he was preparing to land at the ET Joshua Airport.{{more}} The incident took place at approximately 9:20 p.m.
Speaking to SEARCHLIGHT from his Cane Garden home, DeFreitas, who has been a pilot for 11 years, said that the practice by persons of shining laser lights into cockpits is a very dangerous game and persons should think of the consequences of engaging in such a risky activity.
“The closeness to the airstrip which the plane would have beenâ¦and you have a light shining directly into your eyes, means that you have to look away, so if you are on a very short approach and you look away that couple seconds it takes you to look away to then look back, you could lose 100 to 200 feet and if you are already close to the runway and you not in your flare for landing, you could pretty much smack the plane into the runway,â explained DeFreitas.
The landing flare is a manoeuvre or stage during the landing of an aircraft. The flare follows the final approach phase and precedes the touchdown and roll-out.
During the recent incident at ET Joshua, the pilot of the aircraft was very close to touchdown when he had to âpull upâ and abort landing. The pilot reported that the beam seemed to have originated in the Dorsetshire Hill/Queens Drive area.
DeFreitas said that on four different occasions while flying with LIAT and approaching the Piarco International Airport in Trinidad, laser lights were shone into his cockpit from his right side, but he was able to continue flying as by doing so he evaded the lights, seeing that they did not come from directly in front the plane.
He said that houses are not located directly in front of Piarco, so the culprits usually shine the lights from an area to the side of the aircraft, so the pilot is able to continue flying without much distraction.
“When a light like that is in your eyes, youâre not looking at what you are supposed to be looking at, because your focus is now taken elsewhere by the light shining. It is a risk, it presents a dangerous factor,â stressed DeFreitas.
“It would be different when the light is directly in front you; this is a serious hazard to flight crew,â said DeFreitas, who noted that in Trinidad, the lights shone at him would usually be green and the police would usually conduct searches by helicopter, but no one has ever been caught.
“This is probably somebody taking it as joke and entertainment, but there is a serious risk involved and I donât think that anybody would know stuff like this would happen when building airports, so itâs up to persons to be responsible.
“During kite season, they say donât fly kites close to the airport, so it is just for people to know what you should do and shouldnât do. A laser light takes away from the focus and this is very serious,â stressed DeFreitas, who a few years ago was able to land a LIAT plane with passengers without incident, when one of the planeâs wheels came off.
DeFreitas asked the perpetrator to consider this: “What if you have a family member on board and you are the reason the plane crashes? How would this make you feel?â
A statement issued by the director of airports Corsel Robertson said that the fact that the pilot had to abort the landing gives an indication of the seriousness of this act.
She added, “the endangerment of flights by the pointing of laser lights into aircraft can lead to very serious consequences. It is considered a very serious offence and would be dealt with under the full severity of the law. Persons who have engaged in this dangerous practice are strongly urged to cease and desist from repeating such an offence.â
Robertson said that the cooperation of the general public is solicited for the protection of its fellow members who travel by air and persons with any knowledge of the situation can report it to the police or the Airports Department at 458-4011.
The shining of laser lights in cockpits is a worldwide problem. On February 17 this year, the crew of an Alitalia flight carrying the Pope from Havana to Mexico reported that they saw a laser light aimed into the air as the plane was at an altitude of 8,000 feet, preparing to land in Mexico City. None of the cockpit crew or any passengers on board were injured by the beam and the aircraft landed safely.
A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) report notes that on the ground, laser pointers appear to have a weak, diluted projection because general consumer-use pointers are not allowed to exceed five milliwatts (mW).
“But people tend to underestimate just how far the light can be thrown, or what happens to it once it settles on a passing airplane or helicopter. That âweakâ light originating from the ground not only reaches the cockpit of planes, itâs also magnified considerably by their Plexiglas windows. The pilotâs field of vision is compromised as the light comes in bursts, a strobe effect the FBI has compared to setting off a camera flash in a dark room. At distances of up to 1,200 feet, it can engulf a cockpit. It remains a distraction hazard all the way up to 12,000 feetâ.
Last February, the British Airline Pilotsâ Association (BALPA) called for the Government to classify lasers as offensive weapons, which would give the police more power to arrest people for possessing them if they had no good reason to have them.
To see the effect a laser light has on a pilot, you can go to http://images.mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/styles/insert_main_wide_image/public/second-pizza-gif.gif (LC)
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