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New Zealand: Laser pointer/aircraft incidents increase about 11% in 2017
In New Zealand for the first 11 months of 2017, there were 155 reported incidents where pilots were illuminated by laser light. This is greater than the totals for 2016 (152) and 2015 (104).
If this rate of 14 incidents per month holds for December, the 2017 total will be around 169. This would be an 11% increase over 2016.
The information comes from the Civil Aviation Authority which noted that most incidents occurred in metropolitan centers. The CAA deputy director of air transport and air worthiness, Mark Hughes, warned "People are not aware of the significance of it. It's sort of a lark, or a fun thing to do, not recognizing that actually they're causing a real safety issue and creating a danger for pilots and passengers…. It could cause an accident if the pilot is visually impaired at a critical phase of the flight.”
From Radio New Zealand
If this rate of 14 incidents per month holds for December, the 2017 total will be around 169. This would be an 11% increase over 2016.
The information comes from the Civil Aviation Authority which noted that most incidents occurred in metropolitan centers. The CAA deputy director of air transport and air worthiness, Mark Hughes, warned "People are not aware of the significance of it. It's sort of a lark, or a fun thing to do, not recognizing that actually they're causing a real safety issue and creating a danger for pilots and passengers…. It could cause an accident if the pilot is visually impaired at a critical phase of the flight.”
From Radio New Zealand