Airport keeping an eye on lasers pointed at planes
V Ayyappan | TNN | Apr 10, 2019, 06:49 IST
Representative imageCHENNAI: The city airport is monitoring and recording reports from pilots about laser lights being pointed at planes while they are about to land, in a bid to create a safety plan for the coming year.
Pointing laser beams at planes as they fly low just before they are about to land at an airport is considered a threat to passenger safety. It can blind pilots when they are controlling the plane at its most crucial phase of flight. Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), in its safety plan, has advised all airports to keep track of the reports and create a database to a prepare for action based on the number of such incidents reported last year. The aviation regulator has warned that such incidents can cause accidents.
The plan emphasises that “public awareness is essential for preventing the occurrence of such incidents”. “All aerodrome operators need to maintain and report the data of such laser interferences. Based on the occurrences of laser interferences reported in the year 2018, targets and action plan for the upcoming years will be defined,” the safety plan says.
“We have not got reports of laser beams being pointed at flights in the past two months. There were incidents reported before that and we have lodged complaints with the police to find the culprits. People do this when the planes fly low over buildings and main roads when preparing to land,” a senior official of Airports Authority of India (AAI) said.
Planes fly as low as 250 feet over ground when they glide for a touchdown at a airport. There were 39 such instances in Mumbai and New Delhi which is 0.16 occurrences per 10,000 flights, as per the DGCA.
“Earlier, people working on tall buildings and metro rail work sites were suspected to be culprits as lasers are used as pointers at the work site and these lasers can be misused. Pilots have told that they spotted laser lights from areas where there are tall buildings,” said an airport official.
“We are tracking the reports,” he added.
As laser beams can travel a long distance, people find a thrill in pointing it at planes as they can see it on darting across the fuselage. Laser pointers are available in the market, often as key chains, which are used to make presentations at offices and to pinpoint target area for loading or unloading of materials at construction sites.
Pointing laser beams at planes as they fly low just before they are about to land at an airport is considered a threat to passenger safety. It can blind pilots when they are controlling the plane at its most crucial phase of flight. Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), in its safety plan, has advised all airports to keep track of the reports and create a database to a prepare for action based on the number of such incidents reported last year. The aviation regulator has warned that such incidents can cause accidents.
The plan emphasises that “public awareness is essential for preventing the occurrence of such incidents”. “All aerodrome operators need to maintain and report the data of such laser interferences. Based on the occurrences of laser interferences reported in the year 2018, targets and action plan for the upcoming years will be defined,” the safety plan says.
“We have not got reports of laser beams being pointed at flights in the past two months. There were incidents reported before that and we have lodged complaints with the police to find the culprits. People do this when the planes fly low over buildings and main roads when preparing to land,” a senior official of Airports Authority of India (AAI) said.
Planes fly as low as 250 feet over ground when they glide for a touchdown at a airport. There were 39 such instances in Mumbai and New Delhi which is 0.16 occurrences per 10,000 flights, as per the DGCA.
“Earlier, people working on tall buildings and metro rail work sites were suspected to be culprits as lasers are used as pointers at the work site and these lasers can be misused. Pilots have told that they spotted laser lights from areas where there are tall buildings,” said an airport official.
“We are tracking the reports,” he added.
As laser beams can travel a long distance, people find a thrill in pointing it at planes as they can see it on darting across the fuselage. Laser pointers are available in the market, often as key chains, which are used to make presentations at offices and to pinpoint target area for loading or unloading of materials at construction sites.
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