A comprehensive resource for safe and responsible laser use



What’s new at LaserPointerSafety.com



This page covers significant new pages and material here at the website. This page does NOT list news about laser pointers and incidents -- you can find these on the three News pages.

January 2022


Added a page on the topic "Is a laser flashlight a "laser" in California?" This concerns a flashlight using a laser to illuminate a phosphor. The light from the phosphor is emitted by the flashlight, and is neither spatially nor temporally coherent. So while the beam is NOT a laser beam, the device still may be a laser under California's definition. The page goes into great detail on this topic.

Added a FAQ question: "Will a Class 4 laser blind a cat?" Short answer: It could, in the same way a Class 4 laser could injure a human eye.

September 2021


Added a diagram showing five typical battery-powered laser pointers and handhelds, along with their eye and skin hazard distances, and the distances at which they can cause visual interference to persons such as aircraft pilots.

Added a chart showing laser incidents by altitude for 2020. This was added to the page with laser/aircraft illumination statistics.

March 2021


Updated the Laser/aircraft illumination statistics page to add U.S. 2020 data. Added a chart on the number of U.S. incidents per day in 2020. Reorganized U.S. statistics into more drop-down expanding boxes. Added a chart on aircraft type (fixed wing vs. helicopters). Added charts on the number of laser illuminations per 1 million flights for U.S. and New Zealand. Updated New Zealand data throughout to reflect statistics emailed to LaserPointerSafety.com on March 15 2021.

Analyzed 2020 U.S. data to find out why there was a rise in laser/aircraft illuminations after the November 2020 presidential election. (Concluded it was a statistical anomaly.)

December 2020


Added information to the harassment page about blue-tinted Blink security cameras, and an update on the "Havana syndrome" stating that microwaves were likely the cause.

November 2020


Back again after another period of inactivity. Catching up with various stories in the three News sections.

Added information about perceived heat from lasers to the pages If you are harassed by lasers and If you are hit by a laser beam.

July 2020


Back again after inactivity due to the coronavirus shutdown.

Updated the Laser use during protests page to add sources for anti-laser visor strips and protective eyewear. Added information about late July 2020 claim of three federal agents with laser eye injuries from Portland, Oregon protests. Added information about non-laser eye injuries during protests, usually due to police non-lethal weapons used against protesters.

Updated all drop-down expanding boxes ("Clear Accordion") due to changes made by the control's developer. Re-did the If you are hit by a laser beam page and the If your camera is hit by a beam page to organize topics using drop-down expanding boxes.

Updated the Index to news stories page. The lists of Categories and Tags are current as of July 30 2020.

March 2020


Added a new page, "Why laser pointers may not be best for presentations".

February 2020


Added a FAQ question asking if a laser that lights a match can cause problems to eyes by reflection (quick answer: yes, if the dot is stared at, at close range).

January 2020


Re-organized the page If you are harassed by lasers to make it easier to read. Added a section on the case of "H" who was trying to help her friend "F" who is reporting harassment. Updated and added material about the Cuba diplomats case.

Added to various pages that the Federal Aviation Administration considers drones to be aircraft. Since it is illegal to aim laser pointers at aircraft, it is also illegal to aim them at drones.

December 2019


Added a FAQ question asking if viewing laser beams on a TV or phone screen could be hazardous (quick answer: no).

November 2019


Updated the Laser Hazard Distance Calculator and the Beam Diameter & Irradiance Calculator. Fixed a bug which would give an incorrect beam diameter for any units except meters, and added information on calculating the MPE for exposure times other than the 1/4 second default of the calculator.

October 2019


Added a study of laser eye protection which found that the two tested glasses did not adversely affect color recognition, and had only a slight effect on discriminating between shades of a color.

August 2019


Added a page on laser use during protests.

March 2019


Updated the list of U.S. CPSC/NEISS emergency room visits to add laser pointer-related cases from 2013 through 2017.

Added new page about the severity and number of laser eye injuries caused by pointers and handhelds. This page also contains an item which has a link to a spreadsheet of cases in the scientific literature.

Added 2019 U.K. study on hazards of laser pointers to children, especially those with behavioral, learning or mental health problems.

February 2019


Re-did laser eyewear page to rearrange material, add information about types of eyewear (dye vs. thin-film vs. holographic), and add metaAIR's new laser glare protection eyewear to the list.

January 2019


Added worldwide cumulative total statistics on the number of aircraft that have been illuminated, to the Laser/aircraft illumination statistics page.

October 2018


Added the Index to news stories page. This puts all the categories and tags together on one page, to help make it easier for people who are searching for news stories on a particular topic.

August 2018


Updated the Laser/aircraft illumination statistics page to use drop-down boxes.

Added a page with a link to OSHA’s Laser Hazards webpage. Described this as a 1-page “instant” Laser Safety Officer course.

Added an online Beam Diameter and Irradiance Calculator.

Updated the online Laser Hazard Distance Calculator with additional background information. This info can be found in the “Click for more details” buttons.

July 2018


Updated the page on Williamson & McLin’s dazzle concepts, to include new information and graphics.

Changed a few pages to put detailed information into drop-down boxes. This helps the flow of the entire page. For example, on the Home page, the latest news items are now in drop-down boxes.

June 2018


Added a page about the newly-published SAE document ARP6378, “Guidance on Mitigation Strategies Against Laser Illumination Effects.” This document is also linked to on other pages as appropriate, such as the page on glare protection eyewear for pilots.

Added a FAQ question on how to tell if you have a too-powerful laser pointer.

Added, on the Links page, a link to an article from the American Academy of Ophthalmology on how to tell if you have a too-powerful laser pointer.

October 2017


Added a 2016 Australia study on flight crew incapacitations which found that from 2010 through 2014, laser strikes were the second leading cause of incapacitations, after gastrointestinal illness.

Added a 2002 report on understanding levels of vision loss. This is of interest because often laser pointer injuries are incorrectly classified as “blinding” or causing “blindness” when other terms such as “low vision” should be used instead.

August 2017


Added a case study of a person who thought a laser pico projector might have caused an eye injury. (Experts we consulted said the exposure was non-hazardous.) The information is on the Laser pico projectors page, as well as being summarized in a FAQ and in the If you are hit by a laser beam page.

Updated the page on Laser Glare Protection eyewear for pilots. Added more information on how to select and use LGP, and added a company, Folium Optics, that is working on active shutter glasses.

Added a diagram showing how laser beams get wider with distance. It was added to about five pages, including the Fast facts for media page, where appropriate.

Added a page with the U.K. government’s estimate of the cost of lives that might be lost in a hypothetical laser attack or incident.

July 2017


Added a page with the text of the FAA’s guidance for law enforcement (how to investigate and pursue enforcement actions against persons caught aiming lasers at aircraft).

Added a page with tips for using lasers with animals.

June 2017


Added the categories “Did not realize hazard” and “Did know about laser hazards” to the posts of Sentences for laser offenses. Also added tags to indicate the target: aircraft, motor vehicles, ships, etc. Both of these help people searching to find persons convicted of laser misuse who did, or did not, know of the laser’s hazards; and to search by what was illuminated by the laser.

May 2017


As of May 2, the new site-wide search feature is now working properly. Type in a word or phrase and find it at various places on the website.

Added a page with tips on using a garden or Christmas-type laser “star” projector.

April 2017


Added a header to the website along with numerous graphic and layout changes. The header includes a site-wide search box which unfortunately does not seem to be working (have contacted the appropriate tech support). Updated information at some pages during this process.

Added a page about a new laser safety concept, the Nominal Ocular Dazzle Distance (and the Maximum Dazzle Exposure). Thanks to Dr. Craig Williamson for help in clarifying this discussion, though any errors on the page are the responsibility of LaserPointerSafety.com.

Added a page about hobbyist laser hacks and projects

March 2017


Added an online laser hazard distance calculator. If you do NOHD and FAA visual interference distance calculations, this can save some time. It also explains the various inputs and results.

Added a page with corrections and advice for persons doing outdoor laser operations who want to notify FAA by filling out the forms in their FAA Advisory Circular 70-1.

Added information on the 2010 study “Green Laser Pointers for Visual Astronomy: How Much Power Is Enough?” where the authors concluded that a 5 mW Class 3R limit for astronomy pointing — at least for a single person or small group — was sufficient.

February 2017


Added a page about windscreen protective film, to reduce laser light coming in through cockpit windows.

January 2017


Added a page on how to safely simulate a laser strike, using a safe, inexpensive flashlight. Added links to this page on other pages where appropriate, such as the Tips and training for pilots page.

Added a page on Laser designator “flashlights”. Using one of these is highly recommended for pilot safety demonstrations.

Added information on the number of eye effects or injuries listed in FAA reports.

Added a page about research into whether the blink reflex and similar aversion responses are effective in protecting against excess laser light.

December 2016


Finalized a cooperative agreement between LaserPointerForums.com and LaserPointerSafety.com. LPF added a notice about laser safety and a forum with “sticky” laser safety info on their site, and in return LaserPointerSafety added a LPF graphic and link to our sidebar, and a text link on our home page.

Put information on the home page about consumer laser projectors such as the “Star Shower,” which are used to put “stars” and images on the outside of a house. This information stays on the home page through the holiday season.

October 2016


Added a page on emergency signaling devices such as laser flares to attract search-and-rescue personnel. Added a page on laser pointer permits, to put in one place information about various permitting and licensing schemes. Updated various pages to reference FDA’s October 25 proposal to only permit red laser pointers.

June 2016


Re-did the website to make it easier to use on phones, tablets and other mobile devices.

March 2016


Added the page If you are being harassed by a laser. This uses material formerly at ILDA’s old website, laserist.org, which now is not directly reachable from ILDA. And the material is more appropriate here at LaserPointerSafety.com. Also added information about a group for people who feel they are being electronically harassed.

November 2015


Added a page with updates about injuries erroneously claimed to be from “laser toys.”

July 2014


We would like to welcome a new sponsor, Gentex Aircrew Systems.

April 2014


Updated the statistical information about the website’s page views, visitors, sessions, etc. on the Sponsorship page. The statistics now cover April 1 2013 through March 31 2014.

Added more up-to-date information on possible treatments for retinal burns to the page If you are hit by a laser.

Solved a problem on April 24, which had been present since at least mid-March 2014, where at least two pages had 404 (unavailable) errors: Non-aviation incidents, and Laser safety calculations. As it turned out, this was caused by an overzealous malware scanner at our website hosting service. The scanner flagged the two words “by” and “wicked” when they appeared together in a sentence, and automatically deleted the files. After many (many!) hours to track this down, the eventual solution was to re-edit the pages so that these two words did not appear together.

March 2014


Due to requests for high-res photos, added a link to the highest resolution photo available from the FAA, showing a pilot illuminated by laser light. Thanks to Barry Glenn of Orlando Magazine for his help in obtaining this.

February 2014


Reorganized information on FAA laser/aircraft statistics, and added 2013 statistics. The new information has its own menu on the left side, FAA laser/aircraft statistics. Currently there are two submenus, one for 2004-2013 historical data and one for 2013 laser/aircraft incidents.

Added a page which is a reprint of an article on laser protective eyewear, written by Jason Palidwar of Iridian Spectral Technologies for Photonics Spectra magazine, January 2014.

January 2014


Added a page with a chart about Laser Classes (2, 3R, 3B and 4)

December 2013


Added a “Perspectives & opinions” special report on laser toys. The article examines claims that laser toys are widespread and have caused numerous eye injuries.

Added a summary of a major study on laser pointers’ effects on eye injuries, conducted for the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM).

Added information to the International laws page, and to the page on making laws against laser pointers, based on New Zealand’s newly-introduced restrictions on laser pointers over 1 mW.

October 2013


Added a chart on the Home page showing the number of incidents, day-by-day, since January 1 2004.

Added information about bird strikes on the page that compares laser risks to other devices and activities.

August 2013


Updated the chart showing the number of laser incidents reported to FAA, to add the 2013 estimate. This chart can be found on the Home page and here.

Added a diagram entitled “Some ways to help reduce the number and severity of laser pointer/aircraft incidents.” This is intended for use in Powerpoint and other presentations to the general public. A larger version, 2048 x 1607 pixels, is available here.

Added a link to the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada’s webpage on green laser pointer usage. The link appears on the LaserPointerSafety.com webpage with tips for outdoor use.

Found an April 2013 FAA report comparing helicopters to fixed-wing aircraft, in terms of the altitude at which they were illuminated, and the adverse effects. Added a short news item as well as a page summarizing the FAA report.

Found that in February 2013 the FAA replaced Advisory Circular 70-2 with an updated version, 70-2A. Updated references as necessary, and also updated the pages To report an incident and How to reduce incidents: For pilots.

July 2013


Added a page about lasers and camera damage, intended for audience members attending performances where lasers are in use.

April 2013


Made various revisions based on a review of LaserPointerSafety.com by a leading laser safety expert. These include:
  • On the Don’t aim at head & eyes page, lowered estimates of the power that could cause eye damage (from “roughly 50 to 100” mW to “roughly 10 to 20” mW), lowered estimates of the power at which the beam from a laser can be felt (from “around 200-300” mW to “around 150” mW), and changed the date of the most recent issuance of the FDA’s Laser Notice #50 (from 2001 to 2007)
  • On the page Comparing risks of lasers to other items and activities, clarified the purpose of the page in the introductory comments, slightly revised the discussion of distraction/flashblinding of automobiles, and removed commentary about deaths to children from falling out of windows
  • Clarified purpose of the page with CPSC NEISS laser pointer injury reports
  • Removed a statement about laser use in riots and demonstrations in the Fast laser facts for media page, and re-emphasized the hazard of visual interference to pilots
In addition, the expert provided data about MPE, ED50 and NOHD. We are still studying this and thus far have made no changes to these topics.

Revised the FDA authority page, to reflect new information. This includes a private communication about how CDRH came to regulate laser pointers, and an email from FDA describing its authority over laser pointers.

March 2013


Added various papers from the every-two-years International Laser Safety Conference. A summary of 15 ILSC papers is here. Some papers have their own news articles as well.

January 2013


Added page on illegal laser pointers being sold at Amazon.com.

August 2012


Updated information in a few places to reflect the fact that Australia had 733 laser incidents in 2011, despite having some of the most restrictive import and possession restrictions in the world.

July 2012


Added a page summarizing LaserPointerSafety.com’s recommendations on how to reduce the number and severity of laser pointing incidents.

April 2012


Added the CAA’s self-assessment test for laser damage to the If you are hit by a laser page.

March 2012


Added a proposed bill in the Georgia state legislature to the U.S. laws page.

Added a page about the Feb. 29 2012 incident in Winthrop, Mass. where a parent aimed a laser pointer at high school girls during a hockey game.

February 2012


Added two presentations given at the January 31, 2012 SAE G10 Plenary Session, in Melbourne Florida. These are: “Eight Useful Principles of Laser Light Effects for Pilots and Aviation”, and “Review of FAA Laser Incidents in 2011”. Both are available as PowerPoint slide presentations on the Files and Downloads page.

Added information about using lasers to disperse birds, on the Tips for outdoor use page.

Added data on the top 50 airports with laser incidents in 2011, the top 50 cities, and a chart of incidents by altitude. This was added to the 2011 incident statistics page.

Re-calculated 2011 and current incident statistics in order to use the FAA’s clarified definition of “incident”. This has the result of increasing the number of incidents by 4/10 of 1 percent (0.004).

December 2011


Added 2.75 minutes of material to the 10-minute edited version of the FAA/Air Force video. This new 13-minute extended version is intended for pilots. The new material discusses how laser light adversely affects pilots. The new video is available on the Video from the FAA & Air Force page.

Added a page with laser safety calculations. This makes it easy to calculate the Nominal Ocular Hazard Distance (NOHD) and the visual interference distances for flashblindness, glare and distraction.

Added a page about laser blinding weapons. This includes non-lethal dazzlers, the 1995 Protocol on Laser Blinding Weapons, and use of lasers against sensors such as satellite-blinding lasers.

Added a page comparing the hazard distances of different lasers. This replaced material which had been put on the What makes lasers hazardous to aviation page in October 2011. Having a full page allowed additional discussion and diagrams.

We now have a formal program for sponsors and supporters. If you want to support our work and reach persons interested in laser pointer-related issues and products, see the new Sponsorship Opportunities page.

December 5 - We’d like to welcome NoIR Laser Shields as a new sponsor of LaserPointerSafety.com. Thank you for your support!

Redesigned the website. The menu now is always in the upper left corner (it does not scroll with the body of the page). This allows the sidebar on the left, which has sponsors and (in the News pages) categories and tags, to move higher on the page for better visibility.

October 2011


Added diagrams to the What makes lasers hazardous to aviation page. These show the eye and visual hazard distances for various lasers. The diagrams demonstrate various principles. For example, the diagram below shows how two otherwise identical lasers can have very different visual hazard distances if one emits green light and one emits blue light. (In December 2011 this material was moved to its own page.)

Eye and vis hazard 01c 444w distance chart for various lasers 01c


September 2011


Added a page on Laser pico-projectors. Our thanks to Dr. Edward Buckley for bringing his safety analyses to our attention.

Added a page, Why laser beams seem to end. This discusses the Planetary Boundary Layer, which helps make beams visible but only for the lowest few hundred meters of the atmosphere.

Added a section to What are pointers good for? page, with an interesting potential parallel between microcomputer hobbyists and laser enthusiasts.

Added links to our new Twitter feed. Follow @laserptrsafety to get up-to-date news on laser pointer incidents and issues.

August 2011


Added a page listing sentences for laser offenses. This makes it easier to find, in one place, the jail time and fines being given for laser misuse. Note that these are selected listings; we do not have a full list of all persons convicted of laser offenses.

Added a page listing emergency room visits due to laser pointers, from records compiled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Added information from MSNBC about the risks of children falling out of windows.

Added a page on U.S. federal laws for all outdoor laser users (not just laser pointer users).

Added text of the Ocean City, NJ laser possession and sale ban

Added information about Swedish regulations

July 2011


Added information to the Protective eyewear for pilots page, about NoIR GlareShield anti-laser pointer glasses. Thanks to David Bothner of NoIR for bringing this to our attention.

Added a page discussing a possible tax on laser pointers and handheld lasers. The idea is to increase the price so much that these no longer become casual, impulse purchases.

June 2011


Added a page describing FDA authority over laser pointers, and giving LaserPointerSafety.com’s views about whether FDA’s interpretation is correct.

Rewrote “Rules for U.S. consumers” to make it clearer.

Created a new category in the menus, “Perspectives & opinions”. Moved “What are pointers good for” into this menu category. Also created a new page, “Risks of pointers vs. other items” that compares lasers to knives, amusement park rides, and other products and activities.

Added a new page, “Latest aviation statistics” which provides a link to the latest FAA statistics, plus a link gathering all News items marked as being about statistics (how many incidents in a country, etc.).

Added information about U.K. laser pen laws relating to aviation, vehicles and assault.

Added substantial information about Ocean City MD and Ocean City NJ laws against laser pointers. Most were added in the News sections. Also added listings for OC MD, OC NJ and NJ state legislation on the U.S. laws page.

May 2011


Added an excellent paper to the Links page, “The Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act of 1968: History, Accomplishments and Future” by Vivi Tran Lee. This 65-page 2006 paper was written for a Harvard Law School class. It is an overview of how the FDA and CDRH came to regulate various products including lasers. Has 80 references to lasers throughout.

April 2011


Added black-and-white versions of the three 1-page flyers that laser pointer sellers can provide to their customers. This is a benefit if the seller does not want to print these flyers in color.

Added a bar chart showing U.S. aircraft incidents, month-by-month since Jan. 2009. The bars are color-coded to aid in analyzing any seasonal patterns.

March 2011


We have added some additional categories and tags to the news items. For example, there is a new “Statistics” category to make it easier to find items with statistics on laser incidents. Also, we have added “Age” tags, so that it is possible to group together items involving people of a specific age range (10-19, 20-29, 30-39, etc.). A quick perusal of this data shows that incidents occur across all age ranges, not just teenagers and those in their 20’s. Another new tag on the Aviation incidents page is “Annoyed”. This is used for incidents where a person aimed their laser at aircraft that were bothering them.

News items have been separated into three groups, to make them easier to find. The groups are: individual aviation incidents, individual non-aviation incidents, and all other (includes overall statistics about incidents, new regulations and laws, safety warnings and publications, and the occasional odd or fun item).

A few ILSC attendees were curious about LaserPointerSafety.com’s readership. Averaged over one year, the website had 175,000 page requests from 63,000 unique non-robot hosts. By far, the most popular page is the “NEVER aim laser pointers at aircraft!” page. Top search request terms were “laser pointer safety”, “laser pointer airplane”, “laser pointer laws” and “1 watt laser” (referring to lasers introduced in June 2010 that use nominal 1-watt 445 nanometer blue diodes such as the ones in Casio data projectors and the Wicked Lasers Spyder III Pro Arctic laser).

March 14-17, we attended the International Laser Safety Conference. We had excellent discussions with many persons, and want to thank them for their insights. Special appreciation to Jerome Dennis, Joshua Hadler, Greg Makhov, John O’Hagan, Jay Parkinson, Greg Rockwell, Casey Stack, and Tony Zmorenski.

Substantially revised material about pilot protective anti-laser glasses. This is a result of attending the International Laser Safety Conference, and learning about Sperian Laser-Gard glasses. As described on the new Protective eyewear for pilots page, these are specifically designed for aviation use. United Airlines pilot Greg Rockwell, who is also a laser safety expert, found these to be effective against the most common laser pointer wavelengths, without adverse effect on color recognition. We were able to informally test the glasses and found they greatly reduced 532 nm laser light. Therefore, we revised our original concerns about laser glasses. We also revised the FAQ question about whether pilots should be required to wear glasses, in light of this new information.

Added Norwegian laser pointer possession and use regulations which went into effect 1 Jan 2011.

February 2011


Added before-and-after photos to show how goggles can change the color of cockpit lights.

Added an essay, “What are laser pointers and handheld lasers good for?”

Added a page “Fast facts for media”, and rearranged the menu to put all the “facts” and FAQ menus together.

Removed the page “About the NY Times article” from the menu since it has been about a month since the article appeared. The page is still available by directly clicking the link.

Added a page “Safe outdoor laser shows”, with language from ILDA about how outdoor shows are not part of the current problem with laser pointer illuminations of aircraft.

Moved aviation fact pages under their own menu, “Aviation hazard facts & video”. This helped shorten the main menu a bit.

Removed ILDA’s name from the page with the proposed U.S. laser law. The proposal is now attributed to this website (LaserPointerSafety.com). This was done because ILDA’s new Regulatory Committee may have different suggested language.

Added material to some pages and FAQs about the recent CDRH reinterpretation of “surveying, leveling and alignment” (SLA) lasers. Did not change every page or reference yet.

Added a pilot checklist (what to do if illuminated).

Added an AVI format version of the FAA/Air Force video. Now the 10-minute edited version can be downloaded either in MOV (MP4/M4V) format, or AVI format.

Added a page about the SAE G10T Laser Safety Hazards Subcommittee. The page includes a list of documents written by SAE G10T, and available for purchase from SAE International.

Added an FAA/Air Force video called “Aircraft Laser Illumination” , which covers laser/aviation incidents and hazards. A key audience for this video is pilots.

Added a page “2008 FAA windscreen transmittance study”. This is a technical report which may be of interest regarding how much infrared light goes through an aircraft windscreen. (We are not aware of studies on visible light.)

January 2011


Added a page “Rules for U.S. consumers”. This clarifies that, while a pointer may be illegally labeled or illegally sold, once it is in the hands of consumers it is not illegal to possess or to responsibly use the pointer. (Obviously there are some caveats which are discussed in more detail at the page.)

Added a page “FAQ for doubters”. Some questions were moved from the old FAQ, which has been renamed “FAQ - General questions”. A few new questions have been added. This was done because we see the same questions over and over. Most are asked by persons who genuinely cannot understand how their small laser toy could bother a pilot or put them in jail. A few persons seem to be “tin hatters” or Internet trolls who enjoy arguing fine points and missing the big picture. While the new FAQ for doubters may not help the latter two, we hope it will be informative for those who are sincere and want to learn more.

Added a page “About the NY Times article”. This is for persons who saw the January 22 2011 article in the New York Times. It clarifies a few points, and gives summaries and links of the most important issues related to laser/aviation safety.

Added a link to “Laser Hazards in Navigable Airspace”, a 4-page PDF brochure from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration intended for media, pilots and others. It describes the hazards of laser light, FAA flight zones, FAA regulations and publications, and what pilots can do if they experience an incident.

Added an analysis based on FAA’s January 2011 press release which listed the total number of U.S. laser incidents in 2010 (2,836) and the top 20 affected U.S. airports. The LaserPointerSafety.com analysis shows that, on average, a laser incident occurs about once every 8,300 takeoffs and landings.

LaserPointerSafety.com was quoted in a Jan. 6 2011 front-page story in the Honolulu Star Advertiser, entitled “Lasers a danger to pilots”.

Added the results of a December 2010 study by the FAA, of over 2000 laser illumination events occurring in the five years from 2004 to 2008 inclusive.

Added an explanation about why a laser beam appears to end in the night sky. This may be one reason why people aim at aircraft -- they mistakenly think that the beam cannot reach the aircraft.

December 2010


Added the page “If you are hit by a laser beam”. This has information about symptoms, eye exams, and treatment.

November 2010


Updated the status of HR 5810, which is probably dead for this Congressional session.

Removed June 2010 alert (high-powered lasers) and August 2010 alert (Congressional bill HR 5810) from the home page. The “alert” status for both of these has passed; the material remains accessible from the menus.

Updated the Sponsor and Supporters information, found on the left side of most pages (below the menus).

Wicked Lasers became a 6-month sponsor of the website (this sponsorship ended on May 13 2011). They did this because they share many of the goals and purposes of this website. However, please note that while we appreciate their six-month sponsorship support, it does not affect the content or views of this website. LaserPointerSafety.com remains editorially independent. More information is on the About LaserPointerSafety.com page.

October 2010


Added a page About LaserPointerSafety.com.

Rewrote the opening paragraphs of the Aviation hazards of lasers page, to improve clarity and flow.

September 2010


Added a review of the Wicked Lasers Spyder III Pro Arctic series laser. The review concentrates on the safety aspects of this Class 4 laser.

Added a section to the website with pages about Class 4 lasers.

Created three flyers that laser sellers can download and include with their products. These flyers give users essential safety and responsible-use information. There is a flyer for Class 2 and 3R laser pointers, for Class 3B handheld lasers (too powerful to be sold as “pointers” in the U.S.) and for Class 4 lasers.

August 2010


Added a page analyzing a proposed U.S. law, H.R. 5810 banning knowingly aiming laser pointers at aircraft or their flight path. The law passed the House and currently is awaiting Senate action. One webpage has our description, analysis and status report of HR 5810. Another webpage has ILDA’s suggested improved version of the bill. Both ILDA and LaserPointerSafety.com believe that HR 5810 should not be passed in its present form.

Provided information to a reporter from the National Post, after an Aug. 17 incident in Calgary.

July 2010


Added a link to an article in the British Medical Journal, about a teenager whose eyes were damaged by his green diode laser pointer.

June 2010


Added a press release from Optra Inc. about the FBI buying Optra’s “Laser Event Recorders” for cockpit use. These not only record the event with GPS location and timestamp, they also tell pilots whether the laser light is at potentially damaging levels.

Added a page covering the June 2010 introduction of ultra-high powered Class 4 laser pointers such as the Wicked Lasers Spyder III Pro Arctic. It describes the hazard, explains why these should be banned, and discusses why current U.S. laws are not strong enough.

Added material encouraging laws to make it harder to “harvest” lasers, as was done with the Spyder III Pro Arctic. (Wicked Lasers gets the diodes from Casio data projectors sold in everyday office supply stores. Thus, a “good” device containing lasers can be turned into a device that LaserPointerSafety.com considers too powerful for consumer use.) See the section about cut-off lasers and harvesting on the page If you are writing a laser law.

Added news and Internet commentary about the Spyder III Pro Arctic.

April 2010


Added a FAQ question, “Why is a laser pointer hazardous to aircraft?”

March 2010


Added a page “For professionals using lasers outdoors” to the “How to reduce incidents” section. This talks about the use of aircraft spotters and automated/semi-automated systems such as radar.

Added information about the FAA, and how they control outdoor use of lasers, to the U.S. regulatory agencies page.

Added SAE G10-T Laser Safety Hazards Committee, ANSI Z136 committee, and IEC 60825 TC-76 committee to the Links page, under the “Laser and industry groups” heading.

October 2009


Added a new page, "To find incident reports". If readers are aware of similar online lists of aviation incidents which include laser illuminations, please contact us.

September 2009


Added a new page with suggested definitions and concepts, for anyone considering writing a law to restrict laser uses or limit access to certain types of lasers.

Added two pages listing many international (non-U.S.) and U.S. laws prohibiting various aspects of laser pointer use.

ILDA suggested changes to legislation intended to be introduced in the U.S. Congress. The old version (which did not become law in 2005 and 2007) is here. ILDA's updated version is here.

We are pleased to note that a major Internet laser distributor is now including an aviation safety warning on their U.S. labels. For details on this encouraging progress, see this news item.

Moved information about the CDRH and other U.S. regulators to a new page, under the “Laser pointer laws” section.

August 2009


Minor wording and format changes on some pages. Added a link to an interesting (if not always accurate) debate on whether laser pointers should be banned, from a debating website. Added some older news items about the March 2008 Sydney incidents that led to the New South Wales ban on laser pointers.

Added a link to the July/August 2009 issue of FAA Aviation News magazine. On page 28 is an article, written from the FAA’s perspective, on laser illumination incidents.

July 2009


Added links to a June 2009 webpage and PDF brochure from the U.S. FDA CDRH, about laser pointer hazards. Added a new page, summarizing the results of a 2009 Dutch study comparing searchlights to lasers. The complete study is available on the Files and downloads page.

May 2009


Added a question to the FAQ about whether searchlights need to be regulated like lasers. Started a new section (submenu) with pilot effect reports, in anticipation of release of the 2009 Dutch study comparing searchlights to lasers.

Added a new section about Federal rules for those selling laser pointers in the U.S., and about what happens if you break the rules.

April 2009


Added new pages on “How to reduce incidents”. This gives guidance for users, manufacturers & sellers, pilots, airlines & FAA, and FDA/CDRH.

Added a new diagram on the page NEVER aim at aircraft. The diagram shows how police helicopters can find and help apprehend people who illuminate airplanes with laser pointers.

Added a private area, requiring a password for entry. This is currently under construction.

Added a new Files page. Two of the files added are PowerPoint slide presentations about lasers and aviation safety. The presentations were given at the March 2009 International Laser Safety Conference, by Van Nakagawara of the FAA and by Patrick Murphy of ILDA.

March 2009


Added a new link to a paper “Lasers and Aviation Safety”, presented by Patrick Murphy of ILDA at the March 2009 International Laser Safety Conference.

February 2009


Added a page where users and pilots can report a laser incident.

Updated the Aircraft hazard diagram to a new version with dark photographic background and additional text information.