Lasers shone at Liverpool Airport planes
24.08.10
Powerful laser pens have been shone at planes coming in to land at Liverpool Airport, the Echo reports. It has revealed that during July three jets operated by easyJet and Ryanair were targeted as they came in to land at altitudes as low as 500ft.
A report obtained by the newspaper using the Freedom of Information Act shows that despite a high profile prosecution in February, seven more cases have been reported since then. In total 43 aircraft have been targeted in the past three years by lasers, with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) confirming the statistics mean Liverpool is a national hotspot for the crime.
The report showed 22 air crew reported being dazzled by as they flew into or out of Liverpool Airport in 2009 – making the city the seventh most targeted in the UK. The passenger planes of Ryanair and easyJet are the most common targets.
This year a new offence was created to help police crack down on the problem, and now suspects can be charged with the specific offence of ‘shining a light at an aircraft in flight so as to dazzle the pilot’.
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