I
have had people shine low powered laser pointers in my eyes. It?s irritating. When my eyes were dark-adapted, it hurt a little. No, these weren?t weapons grade lasers, but they were also from much closer and without intervening obstacles such as windscreens and aluminum.
Like I said before, I think the threat is overblown. I?m sure that we can come up with a potential threat to pilots pretty easily by referencing $500.00 specialty lasers, but even then it seems to me that the threat is still blown significantly out of proportion considering the distance, aiming considerations and the size of the target. (Yes, I know that the beam will spread out over distance, but remember that as the beam spreads, the danger decreases.)
So, all you guys who are saying the threat is overblown are volunteering to have lasers shined in your eyes, right?
*sigh* Look, if you want to fly me around at 500 or 1000 feet and have someone try to hit the cockpit with a laser pointer while you cover your eyes with heavy-duty aluminum foil, sure, I?ll do it.
Obviously this guy was good enough that the aircrew knew somebody was pointing a laser on them, and well enough to track it's source.
Neither of which require that the laser be bright enough to do any amount of damage to the viewer. In fact identifying and locating the source would seem to be considerably more difficult if one were suffering from temporary blindness, would it not?
Again, I?m not saying there is absolutely no threat, I?m merely saying that the threat is not nearly as serious as it is made out to be or necessarily worthy of a felony charge. A drunk guy in a Power Wheels could conceivably hurt someone, but I?m not in favor of hitting said drunk with a DWI/DUI charge.