I've come across this story several times over the last few days. (I've also seen another, which I can't locate, that claimed this has happened several additional times in various places around the country.)
CLEVELAND - Authorities are investigating a mysterious laser beam that was directed into the cockpit of a commercial jet traveling at more than 8,500 feet.The beam appeared Monday when the plane was about 15 miles from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, the FBI (news - web sites) said.
"It was in there for several seconds like (the plane) was being tracked," FBI agent Robert Hawk said.
The pilot was able to land the plane, and air traffic controllers used radar to determine the laser came from a residential area in suburban Warrensville Heights.
Now that I think about it, it would require some pretty sophisticated tracking equipment as well as a very powerful laser. The intent here really does seem to be to blind the pilot, and not something more dire like painting a target for a missle to lock on to. As far as I know, laser painting is only used for air-to-ground weapons like guided bombs or missles that track slow-moving targets. It would be error-prone and impractical to use laser painting on a target that can rapidly change its direction and profile relative to the laser tracking unit.
I would be interested in seeing just how long they were affected by the laser in these cockpits.. Like whether it was an intermittent thing or a very strong lock.
Posted by eric at December 30, 2004 11:37 AM