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Mexico: Alitalia flight with Pope sees laser beam before landing at Mexico City

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. The following statement was issued by Alitalia on February 17 2016:

“The cockpit crew of Alitalia flight AZ4000 on Friday 12 February noticed a laser light from the ground, as did other aircraft flying towards Mexico City, as they prepared to land at the Mexican capital’s airport. The aircraft Captain, Massimiliano Marselli, promptly reported to the control tower what the cockpit crew had witnessed, which is standard procedure with these type of matters, and similarly it is usual practice for the control tower to alert the competent, local authorities. None of our cockpit crew or any passengers on board were injured by the beam and the aircraft landed safely. The aircraft, an Airbus A330, was enroute from Havana in Cuba to Mexico.”

According to the Sun, air traffic control transmissions recorded a number of pilots reporting laser strikes.

From the New York Daily News; Alitalia statement tweeted by Jon Williams, foreign editor of ABC News. Thanks to Alberto Kellner for bringing this to our attention.

Italy: Turin airport has five laser attacks in August

Five laser attacks have occurred at the Turin-Caselle airport in August. All involved a green laser, located close to the airport, aimed at airliners on approach or while landing. Police are looking for the perpetrator. He or she would be charged with “publicly using unauthorized objects with a nature to offend.”

Class 3B and 4 lasers (for visible continuous output lasers, above 500 mW) have been banned in Italy since 1998, according to AvioNews.

From
AvioNews