Shining a laser at an aircraft is a safety threat; that continues to rise, says the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the United States. As of October 14, the FAA had received 7,186 laser strike reports for 2021, compared with the 2020 total of 6,852. This marks the highest number or reports since 2016.
The FAA warns that many types of high-powered lasers can incapacitate pilots. People who shine lasers at aircraft face FAA fines of up to $11,000 per violation and up to $30,800 for multiple laser incidents. The FAA has issued $120,000 in fines for laser strikes during 2021. Violators can also face criminal penalties from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
“Pointing a laser at an aircraft can temporarily blind a pilot and, not only affects the crew, but also endangers passengers,” said FAA Administrator Steve Dickson.
To identify laser strike trends, the FAA developed a visualization tool, using the Tableau software platform that shows laser strike data from 2010 to 2020 and highlights trends by geographic area, per capita data, time of day and year. Visit https://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/lasers/laws/.
Meanwhile unruly passenger incidents in the United States were occurring about six times per every 10,000 flights. That’s a halving from early 2021, but it’s more than twice as high as the end of 2020, the FAA says. Its public awareness campaign has included memes and two public service announcements. The FAA adopted a zero-tolerance policy toward unruly passengers in January 2021. Under this policy, the FAA no longer issues warning letters. Instead, it moves directly to fines, which total $1.1m to date. In January, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson signed an order directing a stricter legal enforcement policy against unruly airline passengers. Visit https://www.faa.gov/unruly.
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