Two Jets Hit by Lasers on Approach to Salt Lake City
Two jets were struck by a laser beam near Salt Lake City Airport
Two jets on approach to Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC), one a Southwest Airlines flight, were hit by a green laser beam last Thursday according to Utah Police.
The first of two incidents, which occurred on the evening of May 10th, struck the cockpit of a Southwest Airlines 737 as it was on final approach to Salt Lake.
Transmission between Southwest Flight 345 and the tower:
‘Pilot: “Southwest 345…”
Air traffic controller: “Southwest 345 go sir.”
Pilot: “Yeah, we just had a laser strike ….a continuing laser strike at our 9 o’clock, at about two miles. It’s a green laser.”“Pilot: “Looks like he’s trying to strike us pretty good.”‘
Five minutes later, a green laser hit a Lear jet.
‘Air traffic controller: “The previous aircraft inbound about 8 miles ahead of you had a laser event. Did you happen to see anything
Pilot: “We just saw it off the left.”‘
Both flights landed safely but officials said the laser briefly “took out” cockpit visibility.
No one has yet been caught.
Pointing a laser at an aircraft is a federal crime and carries a possible $250,000 fine and up to 20 years in prison if there is a conviction.
Category: Airnation
Wow… If i were the pilots of any of those flights (and if the FAA didn’t exist), i’d do a low fly-by over the suspect and dump whatever i had in the toilets… But in all seriousness there’s gotta be a way to find these people…
That’s one of the drawbacks when technology gets cheap. You get these losers who buy a pen laser and think it’s funny to point them at a plane.
I can’t wait until they catch a few of these punks and get to see the look on their face when they go to prison for 10 years!
Haha i’d LOVE to see that! I wonder if anyone’s been prosecuted for it before. It would probably be hard to prove.
Yes…people have been prosecuted for this in the past. Will try to find an example.