Call Kurtis Investigates: Weapon Of Mass Distraction?
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) -- It's a small device you can hold in the palm of your hand and can cause a catastrophe in the sky. Lasers, that are so powerful the beams can temporarily and even permanently blind a pilot.
"It will literally light the whole entire cockpit," says the CHP's Kevin Vinatieri.
A chopper pilot himself, Vinatieri says if you get a strong enough laser at the right time, you can bring down a passenger plane on approach to land. A Southwest Airlines plane with 129 passengers was on final approach in Baltimore in February when a laser temporarily blinded the pilot and first officer. The plane landed safely, but both the pilot and co-pilot had to be hospitalized with eye injuries.
The Federal Aviation Administration says the number of Aviation events doubled from 1527 in 2009 to 2836 in 2010.
80 happened in San Jose, 55 in Oakland, 39 in San Francisco and 11 between Sacramento International and Executive Airports and 3 in Stockton.
Video from YouTube prove the danger. The intensity of the beams is capable of sparking matches and burning through tape and plastic, even popping a line of more than a dozen balloons. The most powerful beams can permanently blind someone from more than 700 feet away. Think about it. That's permanently taking away someone's eye site with one beam from more than two football fields away.
"The threat of actual permanent blindness is there, and that's what scares me," Vinatieri said.
The California Highway Patrol says its chopper and plane pilots have been targets. CHP fixed wing Pilot Jeff Watkins says it's happened to him so many times, he's lost track. He's temporarily lost his eye site while at the controls.
"It took a few minutes before the fuzzy spot went away," Watkins said.
It's a dangerous disruption of a pilot's concentration. When it happens, they don't know if that laser is attached to a weapon.
"Is somebody going to shoot me or are they trying to blind me right now," Vinatieri said.
Law enforcement from across the Sacramento region have teamed up, including the FBI, the CHP, and local police departments to aggressively catch the culprits. Technology is helping. Those shining those lasers may not realize CHP aircraft are equipped with cameras that can see them from more than a mile up in the sky.
"You follow the light source with a color camera, then I use an infrared camera to zero in on the heat source," Flight Officer Kevin Livingston said.
That's exactly what happened in November, when the CHP air crew talked Sacramento Police right to the suspect at home in Oak Park where he was arrested. Turns out he was an illegal immigrant and ended up deported.
"In some cases, it might just be mischievous individuals, in other cases it's people trying to distract the pilots," said Congressman Dan Lungren.
The Republican lawmaker is behind a bill on Capitol Hill making shining a laser at a plane or a chopper a federal felony carrying a five year prison sentence.
"We mean business. This is serious stuff. You're endangering people's lives. We're not going to allow this to occur," Lungren said.
Federal Agents with Customs and Border Protection are trying to keep the most powerful lasers out of the country. We saw a seizure of a foreign shipment at the San Francisco mail sorting facility.
These devices may seem like toys. With potential to kill, pilots want you to know this is no game.
"Don't go out and run on a freeway and don't shine a laser at an aircraft," Vinatieri said.
A man in Pennsylvania was just sentenced to a year and a half in prison for shining a laser at a police helicopter.
In that case, the pilot said he lost control of the chopper until his partner took the controls. Four people were arrested earlier this month for shining lasers at a Sheriff's chopper in Los Angeles. Two of the suspects are teenagers.
