Blinded by the Light

Human beings get up to all sorts of mischief, some of it harmless, some of it decidedly not so. Alas, the borderlands separating mischief and crime are poorly delineated, and the notion of harmlessness is decidedly and dangerously subjective.

The impetuses by which men are compelled to mischief are myriad, but fall most often under the broader headings of youth, boredom, peer-pressure, intoxication, and folly. Beyond these, however, are darker motivations, dearths of knowledge, circumspection, and morality difficult to describe succinctly but immediately recognizable as stupidity and malice.

The act of pointing a laser into the eyes of any living thing is vulgar and evinces stupidity, malice, or some repellent combination thereof. Pointing a laser into the eyes of a flying pilot—upon whose vision and sensibility any number of lives are apt to depend—is patently evil, expressly criminal, and indicative of psychopathy.

The number of reported instances involving the aiming of lasers at U.S. aircraft hit a record high in 2021—rising 42% over the previous year to a deplorable and worrying total of 9,273 incidents.

The FAA puts forth in both regulation and public announcements that intentionally aiming lasers at aircraft poses a safety threat to pilots and violates federal law. “Many high-powered lasers can incapacitate pilots flying aircraft that may be carrying hundreds of passengers," the agency asserts—albeit to insufficient effect.

The FAA loudly trumpets its authority to issue fines of up to $11,000 per laser-related violation; yet in 2021 the agency levied a scant $120,000 in such fines—a sum that represents less than 0.12% of the $102,003,000 that might have been collected had every reported laser-crime perpetrator been arraigned.

The lack of actionable arrests and indictments belies the existence of a software visualization tool created by the FAA to compile and analyze aircraft laser-strike data from 2010 through 2021. The tool ostensibly identifies and categorizes laser incidents by geographic area, per capita data, and time of day and year. What the agency is doing with the data gleaned by subject tool remains a mystery. The FAA alleges, however, that its personnel "… work closely with other federal agencies and state and local governments to report and investigate incidents, help apprehend suspects, and advocate for the prosecution of offenders."

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) states the FAA "… does not consistently share collected information with law enforcement," and noted an interagency group comprising the FAA, FBI, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—which has regulatory authority over laser devices—was dissolved in 2015.

Particularly hard hit by laser-wielders are FedEx aircraft operating in the vicinity of the company’s Memphis, TN Super-Hub. FBI reports indicate that between January and July 2021, 49 green laser strikes were made on both inbound and outbound FedEx aircraft.

That the matter of laser crime absolutely positively merits increased investigation and vigorous prosecution is a mortal certainty.

FMI: www.laserpointersafety.com