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UK: 4 months for steady aiming at RAF Tornado jet
16 Sep 2010 -- Categories: Aviation incidents | Fines & Jail
An RAF Tornado fighter jet was illuminated by a beam “focused on the jet cockpit for up to ten seconds”, on 16 August 2010, at RAF Leuchars airbase (near St. Andrews, Scotland). One month later, 28-year-old Romanian migrant worker Radu Moldovan pleaded guilty to culpably and recklessly endangering a military aircraft. He received a four-month sentence.
Four month sentence for Radu Moldovan
His lawyer said that Moldovan “wanted to see how powerful” the £4 green laser pen was. The laser beam was aimed at or near the aircraft multiple times. The local sheriff said “The consequences of a Tornado crashing at RAF Leuchars raises the most horrific possibilities of death and injury to the pilot, navigator and anyone passing underneath.”
From BBC News