Laser Pen Danger to Aircraft

[noirua]

This laser pen danger, shone from the ground at aircraft, is now a worldwide problem. At times reports from Canada and UK have shown several laser pens pointed at an aircraft.
Time now for this offence to be classified as attempted mass murder of aircraft occupants and to carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.


Jailed for 2yrs and 3 months: http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,23505647-5006301,00.html

"Laser fool" jailed for six months: http://laserpointersafety.com/news/files/8aa609ed24a9849e5f4944eaa6e33aa7-24.php

"Laser Pointer": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/laser_pointer

"Green Laser Pointers...": http://ezinearticles.com/?Green-Laser-Pointers-And-Aircraft&id=1059545

 

[satanoperca]

What is with our gutless legal system.

Sentenced to 2.5 years with a non parole period of 10 months.

How about, you are a f???king idiot and you get 2.5years for being one. Be good in goal or bad you are losing 2.5years of your life.

Actually, how about if you are bad in goal you get an extra 2 years instead of the opposite.

What gives with society?

 

[jono1887]

Time now for this offence to be classified as attempted mass murder of aircraft occupants and to carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Perhaps attempted manslaughter??

 

[Mr J]

What is with our gutless legal system.

It was just a laser. He does sound like a wanna-be hitman though. Could he even get a gig in Adelaide?

 

[nomore4s]

Perhaps attempted manslaughter??

Is there even such a thing as attempted manslaughter?

I thought manslaughter was an accidental killing due to recklessness or whatever - in other words not planned. So I'm not sure how you could have attempted manslaughter, because by definition doesn't it automatically become attempted murder?

 

[ojm]

"Attempted manslaughter" could be wrecklessly endangering life?

 

[Chris45]

I suspect these morons are motivated by the same evil desires as the ones who throw rocks on to cars on motorways.

"I'm bored. Let's bring down a plane/cause a pileup for a bit of excitement."

Could the shoot-em-up/smash-em-up video games and movies be a factor here?
Forget jail. Just lobotomize them and let them live and search for food scraps at the council tip!

 

[Gar]

Could the shoot-em-up/smash-em-up video games and movies be a factor here?

No, please don't blame it on video games.

The problem here IMO is that he has been enabled, by his parents & the people around him, to develop into a selfish douche bag

 

[Chris45]

No, please don't blame it on video games.

The problem here IMO is that he has been enabled, by his parents & the people around him, to develop into a selfish douche bag

To be a "selfish douche bag" is one thing, but to want to cause real death and destruction is something very different. Where does that desire come from if not from the "entertainment" his excuse for a brain feeds on?

 

[Mr J]

I suspect these morons are motivated by the same evil desires as the ones who throw rocks on to cars on motorways.

Evil is an artificial concept. It's just careless disregard for the safety of others.

Where does that desire come from if not from the "entertainment" his excuse for a brain feeds on?

To blame it on movies and video games is extremely ignorant. They may influence him to an extent, but there's almost certainly going to be a problem there anyway. He could get the encouragement from anywhere.

 

[Chris45]

Evil is an artificial concept. It's just careless disregard for the safety of others.

My understanding of "evil" is more than just a "careless disregard for the safety of others". It's that which causes harm or destruction or misfortune.

To blame it on movies and video games is extremely ignorant. They may influence him to an extent, but there's almost certainly going to be a problem there anyway. He could get the encouragement from anywhere.

If video games and violent movies don’t influence our attitudes and behavior, why do we have a billion dollar advertising industry churning out media designed to do just that?

 

[chode84]

There were idiots and "evil" people around long before the dawn of video games, so I can't see how the games could possibly be blamed.

 

[seasprite]

this is a bit blurry , hope you can read it.

 

[Mr J]

My understanding of "evil" is more than just a "careless disregard for the safety of others". It's that which causes harm or destruction or misfortune.

Can you claim with reasonable confidence that he intended to bring the chopper down?

If video games and violent movies don’t influence our attitudes and behavior, why do we have a billion dollar advertising industry churning out media designed to do just that?

Because they are fun. Most people watch movies, and many, many people play video games, yet I don't see them running around harming each other. As chode says, society has always had these types, and I'm sure society has always found ridiculous excuses.

 

[chode84]

This is very true Seasprite,

We had a pilot get "lasered" at the company I work for last year while coming in to land. He said one of the things that happened was the green light bounced around the cockpit as it got reflected off various surfaces.

On another more humorous note about night vision and flying, another colleague was once coming into land at Sydney at night on a charter flight in a smaller aircraft with Japanese tourists on board. On short final he felt a tap on the shoulder so he turned around only to cop a camera flash in the eyes. Destroyed his night vision and he told me that he could only just see the runway and land safely.

 

[Chris45]

Can you claim with reasonable confidence that he intended to bring the chopper down?

Why else would you aim a high powered laser at an aircraft? The dangers have been well publicized.

Because they are fun. Most people watch movies, and many, many people play video games, yet I don't see them running around harming each other. As chode says, society has always had these types, and I'm sure society has always found ridiculous excuses.

Are you saying that the youth of today are no more violent than the youth of, say, 50 yrs ago?

 

[Mr J]

Why else would you aim a high powered laser at an aircraft? The dangers have been well publicized.

They could just be ignorant or careless. Sure, some people who do these things do it with malicious intent, but I think to most it just seemed a fun idea at the time, despite how stupid it seems.

Are you saying that the youth of today are no more violent than the youth of, say, 50 yrs ago?

I won't because I have no evidence, but I am skeptical. If you're claiming youth are more violent, where's your evidence?

 

[Vizion]

The article did not really state why lasers where a danger to the pilots, it is not however the fact they kill their night vision. Lasers pointers are supposed to be class 1 devices but in actual fact alot of cheap Chinese imports are closer to class 3.

Thats a bigger problem that you might think as Class 3 devices can & do cause almost immediate blindness if it hits the retina at the point the optic nerve joins the retina.
They do the damage faster than the blink reflex of the human eye can protect you which is 0.25 of a second.
Even if they don't hit the most vulnerable part of the eye they can cause cataracts as they "boil" the cornea.

Laser pointers are now classed in the same way as guns in NSW. If you are caught importing them without a license you can be charged under a firearms offense.

If your interested I have a bucket load of information on this as one of the things I am at work is an LSO (Laser Safety Officer)

Cheers

 

[Chris45]

If you're claiming youth are more violent, where's your evidence?

Surely you're joking!!! A quick google of youth violence statistics led to this for starters:
http://www.matthewstanleyfoundation.com.au/page.asp?navstr=56,100&Pagecat=100

"Police statistics over the past decade (1997-2006) reveal substantial increases in youth violence across Australia."
- Professor Paul Mazerolle is director of the violence research and prevention program at Griffith University.

But if you want to believe that youth violence is not a problem and that violent media is not a contributing factor then I think you're being incredibly naive.

The simple fact is that there is a problem and I wish that our society would address the causes, even if it means youths sacrificing some of their simple pleasures, but of course that's not going to happen because most youths these days are basically selfish and are not prepared to make any sacrifices even for the benefit of the community.

We should ban all gratuitously violent media, like we've banned child pornography, and see if we can cure this cancer that's threatening to destroy our society.

Peaceful citizens should not be afraid to go out at night and enjoy themselves but many are these days because of the groups of violent youths that go around looking for a bit of "excitement".

If you think that violent media is not a major contributor then tell me what is.

 

[Mr J]

That site seems unlikely to be objective about the issue, and I didn't see any statement of statistics.

But if you want to believe that youth violence is not a problem and that violent media is not a contributing factor then I think you're being incredibly naive.

No, I'm just not forming a conclusion on something that has not been proven. It's not sensible to assume modern media is any more than minimally influential until it has been shown that there is a high probability that it is influencial. Countless studies have been conducted, and I'm not aware of any that have shown with great confidence that media is signficantly influential. Even if it appears to be influential, it does not mean that it actually is.

Take a nutter who loves video games and goes out and massacres a group of people. Do we blame the video games, or did he already have issues to start with? Perhaps the video games were a coincidence, or he was drawn to them because he was already sick?

We should ban all gratuitously violent media, like we've banned child pornography, and see if we can cure this cancer that's threatening to destroy our society.

What cancer has been removed by child pornography being illegal? There's no shortage of pedophiles out there, and I'm sure there never has been. I highly doubt anyone has engaged with a child sexually simply because they saw it on media.

If you're going to debate this, please provide evidence rather than these unreasonable arguments.