Local Police Turn Case Over To FBI

The pilots of a commercial airliner preparing to land at Boise International Airport in Idaho Saturday reported a green laser beam was pointed at their aircraft from the ground around 11:30 pm.

Controllers alerted other aircraft about the laser sighting. The pilot of a St. Luke's Hospital System helicopter saw the laser coming from the same area, police told the Idaho Statesman.

The pilot was able to identify the source of the beam as a residence in a neighborhood and used his spotlight to lead police to the home where officers found two 17-year-old boys and a green laser pointer.

Local police turned the case over to the Federal Bureau of Investigations as shining a laser at an aircraft in flight is a possible federal offense, police spokeswoman Lynn Hightower said.

As ANN reported, under legislation approved in May by the House of Representatives, the use of cheap, handheld laser pens "presents an imminent threat to aviation security and passenger safety," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) before the voice vote to approve the measure, according to the Associated Press.

Trent Pedersen, regional media representative for the FBI, declined to comment on what, if any, charges the boys might be facing.

Since 1990 the Federal Aviation Administration has reported more than 500 incidents of pilots being blinded or disoriented by laser beams according to Florida congressman Ric Keller, sponsor of the legislation. The National Transportation Safety Board has documented two cases where pilots sustained actual injury to their eyes and were incapacitated during critical phases of a flight.

BOI officials say this is the third time this year laser beams from the ground have been reported, but this is the first time investigators were able to actually locate the source.

FMI: www.cityofboise.org/departments/airport, www.faa.gov, www.ntsb.gov