They don't know, which is why the press reports it. If they remembered their high-school geometry it might not be newsworthy.

Nearly all such incidents are with DPSS green lasers since they're cheap and easy to find, and the beam is easy to see. Due to the way they're made 400mW is about the maximum output power. That's at the exit: about 1 mm2. By the time the beam hits an aircraft in flight and the beam has diverged to several inches or more the power will be at least a couple of orders of magnitude below the damage threshold.

(a nut willing to power a bench laser from a car battery is another thing altogether - I'm talking about what guys use when they buy a common handheld laser with internal batteries)

Don't get me wrong: it's not a good trick. It can easily be to a pilot like someone climbed up to the window and flashed a bright flashlight, forcing a go-around to get night-vision back. A medical helicopter landing in a tricky environment could be in serious trouble.

Fortunately goggles than block 532nm are cheap and don't otherwise hinder vision: if it really becomes a problem for pilots there's a quick & cheap solution available.


The Sheriff, who already investigates attacks on freeways. Nothing new here.

I look at it as I look at the problem of kids dropping bowling balls off of overpasses into freeway traffic. Dangerous, etc, but banning bowling balls isn't the first thing that comes to mind.

The funky military canopy is for dealing with attacks by other than DPSS lasers. That, and any Chinese efforts at developing laser "dazzlers" is likely a deadend as the era of human eyeball involvement in air combat operations is already coming to an end.

Getting back to the topic at hand: no one else has addressed this point. I'm not an expert in the rescue aspect but I would say that the Answer is NO, the DealExtreme is not substitute for a Greatlands laser and is not useful as a rescue laser.

I do not think any laser whose beam is a spot can be used because there is no hope of hitting the aircraft looking for you. Unless the aircraft actually intersects the laser beam a few inches or feet in diameter they won't see a thing.

The Atlas Nova laser I linked to earlier has several different nose pieces to get different beam shapes, most of which would be useful. I think Nova Lasers sells optics that can do this too. I think they might work, but might not be a better buy.