BOSTON — The FAA is investigating after two Jet Blue flights were illuminated by a laser early Thursday morning.
According to the FAA, JetBlue Airways Flights 494 and 972 were illuminated by a green laser around 5:40 a.m. near Boston.
There were no injuries to report during this incident.
On Thursday night, the crew of a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter also reported being illuminated by a green laser around 8 p.m. while landing at Boston Logan Airport.
“Aiming a laser at an aircraft is a serious safety hazard that puts everyone on the plane and on the ground below at risk,” the FAA said in a statement. “It is also a violation of federal law. To combat the threat, the FAA asked laser manufacturers to add a warning label to their packaging to make consumers aware of the safety risks and federal laws when using lasers,” the FAA added.
According to Flight Aware, Flight 972 was coming from San Jose, California and Flight 494 was coming from Denver, Colorado.
“It’s a very busy time in the cockpit. And to hit it with a laser is extremely dangerous,” said Tom Kinton, former head of Massport and current President of Kinton Aviation Consulting.
He says the pilots were very lucky.
“They’re at 17 hundred feet over Milton. It hits the cockpit at the time they’re looking for traffic… a visual approach,” said Kinton.
Kinton says that puts the pilots, passengers, and even people on the ground in jeopardy.
“At best it’s like a flashbulb going off and you’re trying to get your sight back in seconds. At worst it’s a powerful laser that can do serious and permanent damage to somebody’s eyes,” he said.
Laser strikes are on the rise nationwide.
Pilots reported 9,500 laser strikes to the FAA in 2022
278 pilots have reported an injury from a laser strike to the FAA since 2010, and people who shine lasers at aircraft face FAA fines of up to $11,000 per violation and up to $30,800 for multiple laser incidents.
The FAA issued $120,000 in fines for laser strikes in 2021 and said these incidents have nearly doubled since 2018.
In 2018 there were 5,663 laser strikes.
That number jumped to 9,547 in 2022.
The FAA says fines can top 11 thousand dollars for each incident.
In 2011, a Massachusetts man was sentenced to three years for using a laser to target a state police helicopter.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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