I'm guessing this topic has been visited a time or two but I'm thinking mine will be a slightly different slant on it so I'll go ahead and start the thread.
Law enforcement crews are routinely the target of folks on the ground that think it's cool to aim lasers at us as we're in an orbit assisting ground units. Getting hit with a laser can range from being a slight annoyance to be down right dangerous to flight safety. It is becoming more prevalent.
Additionally, white light in great enough intensity can be equally as dangerous. Suprisingly, many of the mindless white light shiners are adults. One would think they would be over such childish pursuits but I guess not. There's nothing quite like Joe Citizen blasting you with the million candlepower portable light as you orbit in close proximity to power lines.
Recently, my partner and I were assisting CHP (California Highway Patrol) look for a couple stolen vehicle suspects who had foot bailed after a pursuit. As we were doing this we were hit with a laser from about a half mile away. It was obvious the holder of the laser was attempting to target the helicopter. The call we were on was going nowhere fast so we made a beeline for the source.
We located the suspect in an alley between a couple apartment complexes. My partner directed the ground units to the suspect who ended up running into the arms of one of the responding officers, laser still in hand. As if that wasn't dumb enough, he was a parolee at large.
As most of you may know, a laser is quite visible at night when using NVGs. Even the smallest of lasers can really light up your evening if the suspect(s) are accurate enough. Just a reminder...it's safer to take a laser hit with your NVGs in place. We're using ANVIS-9 goggles.
Commercial Jets coming in to land in San Diego have also been the targets of lasers and white light. They advise ATC who advises us and we check it out. Feel free to do the same where you are if the mindless white light and laser shiners target you. The FBI is very interested in these type cases. The FBI agent in San Diego who handles these is Matt Perkins.
If anybody needs more info on this type thing, let me know.
Law enforcement crews are routinely the target of folks on the ground that think it's cool to aim lasers at us as we're in an orbit assisting ground units. Getting hit with a laser can range from being a slight annoyance to be down right dangerous to flight safety. It is becoming more prevalent.
Additionally, white light in great enough intensity can be equally as dangerous. Suprisingly, many of the mindless white light shiners are adults. One would think they would be over such childish pursuits but I guess not. There's nothing quite like Joe Citizen blasting you with the million candlepower portable light as you orbit in close proximity to power lines.
Recently, my partner and I were assisting CHP (California Highway Patrol) look for a couple stolen vehicle suspects who had foot bailed after a pursuit. As we were doing this we were hit with a laser from about a half mile away. It was obvious the holder of the laser was attempting to target the helicopter. The call we were on was going nowhere fast so we made a beeline for the source.
We located the suspect in an alley between a couple apartment complexes. My partner directed the ground units to the suspect who ended up running into the arms of one of the responding officers, laser still in hand. As if that wasn't dumb enough, he was a parolee at large.
As most of you may know, a laser is quite visible at night when using NVGs. Even the smallest of lasers can really light up your evening if the suspect(s) are accurate enough. Just a reminder...it's safer to take a laser hit with your NVGs in place. We're using ANVIS-9 goggles.
Commercial Jets coming in to land in San Diego have also been the targets of lasers and white light. They advise ATC who advises us and we check it out. Feel free to do the same where you are if the mindless white light and laser shiners target you. The FBI is very interested in these type cases. The FBI agent in San Diego who handles these is Matt Perkins.
If anybody needs more info on this type thing, let me know.
