Accused Of Pointing A Green Laser At Control Tower, Airplane In Daytona

A man claiming to be a student at ATP Flight School was arrested Sunday night on suspicion of aiming a laser at an American Airlines plane on approach as well as the control tower cab at Daytona Beach International Airport (KDAB).

The suspect is Gerardo Sanchez. The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports that he was stopped just after 2200 EST walking along Clyde Morris Boulevard near the airport. Police made contact with Sanchez because he was the only person they found walking along the road after receiving a 9-1-1 call from the controllers in the tower about a laser incident.

Sanchez, 23, showed the officers a green laser pointer he was carrying with him when asked if he had such a device. After being read his rights, he told the officers he was walking along the road playing with the laser and pointing it in different directions when he noticed an airplane on "short approach" ... a phrase one of the officers recognized as being a aviation term. Sanchez admitted to playing with the laser "in the areas of the in-flight American Airlines aircraft" though he did not target the airplane specifically. He said he aimed the laser at the clouds and that the pilot may have "flown through" the beam. He also admitted to having pointed the laser at the control tower cab "several times," according to the police report.

The use of an aviation term led the officer to ask if Sanchez was a pilot. He replied that he was studying to be a pilot at ATP Flight School, which is a tenant at KDAB. The flight school would not confirm that Sanchez is a student there.

The plane landed without incident, though the pilot did report being hit with a laser. The controllers in the tower also reported being hit by the beam, and one said it affected his vision for about two seconds.

Sanchez has been charged with pointing a laser light at a driver/pilot, which is a felony. He was released after posting $1,500 bail from the Volusia County (FL) Branch Jail.

(Gerardo Sanchez mug shot)

FMI: www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/lasers