Home•Fairfax General Forum•Arrest/Ticket Search•Wiki new•Pictures/Videos•Chat•Articles•Links•About
Fairfax County General :  Fairfax Underground fairfax underground logo
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Goto Topic: Previous•Next
Go to: Forum List•Back to Forum•Post New Topic•Search•Log In•Print View
Lasers pointed at airplanes question...
Posted by: Q1 ()
Date: July 23, 2012 09:26AM

I keep hearing about this and wonder
how it is that the lasers get into the pilot's
line of sight. First they are several thousand feet
up in the air, or if not, they are looking forward
in their cockpit most of the time.
How does a laser shine into their eyes if it is
basically hitting the bottom or side of the plane?
Seems to me that unless they are landing or taking
off and it is pointed at them then, then it might
get into their eyes.
Please enlighten me.
Thanks !

Options: Reply•Quote
Re: Lasers pointed at airplanes question...
Posted by: Ralph Pootawn ()
Date: July 23, 2012 09:31AM

Why don't you go into the street tonight and try it. Make sure you tell someone first.

Options: Reply•Quote
Re: Lasers pointed at airplanes question...
Posted by: justsayin ()
Date: July 23, 2012 10:22AM

From my understanding it isn't that the laser beam itself gets in the pilots' eyes, it is the beam meeting the cockpit windshield and having the light disperse among the microfractures, at best causing serious distraction but more likely severely limiting visibility for the pilots.

Options: Reply•Quote
Re: Lasers pointed at airplanes question...
Posted by: Q1 ()
Date: July 23, 2012 10:23AM

Good answer. Thanks

Options: Reply•Quote
Re: Lasers pointed at airplanes question...
Posted by: Olde Farte, II ()
Date: July 23, 2012 10:27AM

Planes can "see" for quite a distance...and lasers travel far, too:



Here's a YouTube link to search results:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=laser+airplane

Options: Reply•Quote
Re: Lasers pointed at airplanes question...
Posted by: TheMeeper ()
Date: July 23, 2012 10:29AM

There was a Tom Clancy novel where two CIA agents rented a hotel room near the airport, and shined a laser into a plane that was landing, causing it to crash and kill some high-ranking government official. I forget which book, but it was pretty cool, and made me kinda worry that someone could do this IRL.

Options: Reply•Quote
Re: Lasers pointed at airplanes question...
Posted by: meh ()
Date: July 23, 2012 10:34AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_pointer#Malicious_use

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lasers_and_aviation_safety#Primary_hazards_of_lasers_and_bright_lights



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2012 10:36AM by meh.

Options: Reply•Quote
Re: Lasers pointed at airplanes question...
Posted by: snowdenscold ()
Date: July 23, 2012 11:06AM

TheMeeper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There was a Tom Clancy novel where two CIA agents
> rented a hotel room near the airport, and shined a
> laser into a plane that was landing, causing it to
> crash and kill some high-ranking government
> official. I forget which book, but it was pretty
> cool, and made me kinda worry that someone could
> do this IRL.


It was Debt of Honor (1994) and they were taking down Japanese command-and-control / communications birds, not any particular government officials. Although in the beginning of the book, they used the same light setup to take an African dictator into custody (but that didn't involve airplanes).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2012 11:08AM by snowdenscold.

Options: Reply•Quote
Re: Lasers pointed at airplanes question...
Posted by: Q1 ()
Date: July 23, 2012 02:24PM

Thanks all, your are my go to guys !

Options: Reply•Quote
Re: Lasers pointed at airplanes question...
Posted by: howdyduty ()
Date: July 25, 2012 12:00AM

very, very good answer

Options: Reply•Quote


Go to: Forum List•Back to Forum•Search•Log In
Your Name: 
Your Email (Optional): 
Subject: 
Attach a file
  • No file can be larger than 75 MB
  • All files together cannot be larger than 300 MB
  • 30 more file(s) can be attached to this message
Spam prevention:
Please, enter the code that you see below in the input field. This is for blocking bots that try to post this form automatically.
 **     **  **     **  **      **  **     **  ********  
 ***   ***  **     **  **  **  **   **   **   **     ** 
 **** ****  **     **  **  **  **    ** **    **     ** 
 ** *** **  *********  **  **  **     ***     **     ** 
 **     **  **     **  **  **  **    ** **    **     ** 
 **     **  **     **  **  **  **   **   **   **     ** 
 **     **  **     **   ***  ***   **     **  ********
This forum powered by Phorum.