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[igotthisguitar]

Super Laser Pointed At Passenger Jet
August 09, 2007 01:15pm

A QANTAS Boeing 767 with 185 passengers onboard was targeted by a high-powered laser as it came in to land at Darwin.

The pilot at the controls of flight QF486 from Sydney saw the laser aimed at his plane shortly before midnight on August 3.

He landed without incident but was not required to pilot the next day's return flight to Sydney.

"The incident happened slightly before midnight and the plane landed slightly after midnight," Qantas spokesman Lloyd Quartermaine said.

"It was decided as a precautionary measure that he wouldn't pilot the aircraft back. The pilot has also gone to the company doctor."

Darwin international airport, which is less than 15km from the city centre, shares a site and runway with Darwin's RAAF base.

Mr Quartermaine would not comment on the possibility of a 'military-grade' laser being involved in the incident.

"We had a report of a laser, police are checking out where it might have come from," Mr Quartermaine said.

He said Qantas had reported the incident to NT police and it had also been referred to the Australian Federal Police, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

The investigation comes as the RAAF this week admitted to an incident on May 28, in which a laser was aimed 'accidentally' at a civilian car as two F/A-18 Hornets conducted training exercises over the NSW north coast.

The jets were taking part in a simulated exercise targeting the intersection of The Lakes Way and Seal Rocks Road, near Forster, and the laser was not supposed to fire.

Authorities said the incident posed a risk to the eyes of motorists who could have looked up and into the laser beam.

Staring into a laser can cause retina damage or even permanent blindness depending on the strength of the beam.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22215301-17001,00.html
?from=public_atom

[mindmetoo]

Someone with a surplus military or industrial laser decides to test it out by painting a plane. Dangerous as all get out. People are stupid.