Laser pointed at multiple Calgary aircrafts
Posted Feb 27, 2014 7:41 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Calgary police are concerned about the very dangerous act of pointing lasers at aircrafts after some recent incidents involving in the southeast.
Shortly after 8:00 p.m. Wednesday night, a beam was directed from the ground at a HAWCS helicopter, from Macleod Trail and Fisher Street S.E.
Then about an hour later in the Ogden area, police got a call from NAV Canada about a commercial aircraft also having a laser pointed at it.
Thankfully, the pilots involved were not affected, but the offender or offenders were not located.
Duty Insp. Michael Watterston said people on the ground committing the act may not realize it, but that little light can seriously and dangerously affect the vision of who’s flying.
“This is not a joke, this is not something to have fun with, this is definitely putting people’s lives in danger,” he said. “We’ve got aircraft in the air and if the pilots are impacted, the safety of those pilots and the folks on the ground, everyone involved is at jeopardy.
Watterston added there are also serious consequences under the Aeronautics Act, including a significant fine and jail time if warranted.
