Saturday, January 22, 2011

Record number of aircraft 'laser events' gives us one more reason to hate LA

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Are you that kid aiming his father's laser pointer at people walking
along city sidewalks? Yeah, well stop it -- now. What you might
consider a harmless prank can have serious repercussions when aimed at
the cockpit of an approaching jetliner. What seems like good fun at
the time can temporarily blind a pilot attempting to land nearly a
million pounds of life, metal, and fuel. According to the numbers just
released by the FAA, 2010 saw a record number of reports of lasers
pointed at aircraft -- "almost double" the number of reports from
2009. Of the 2,800 incidents reported nationwide, the Los Angeles area
reported the most with 201 incidents, followed by Chicago (98),
Phoenix (80, half of which were probably UFO related), and San Jose
(80 -- nerds!). Top 20 list after the break.

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