18 Months for a Stupid Laser Trick

It seems the Border Patrol and Federal Courts take it very seriously when lasers get pointed at their aircraft.

Margarito Tristan III, 28, of Donna, pleaded guilty on July 1 and was sentenced Wednesday.

Border Patrol helicopter pilots on night training were disoriented by a green laser shined in their eyes on March 7, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Courthouse News

This one is unusually short for them, so I kept it short for the quote. I thought this particularly valuable to share though, since not everyone may be aware that it can bring a year and a half in prison for doing it. I know some think of it as a joke, but apparently the courts sure don't.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Hey Wrabbit, I think i found the applicable video



Certainly makes their infrared camera flare pretty bad. Worth 18 months in Jail? no, worth it to bother police offices at risk of 18 months in jail? No.

What really gets me is the amount of resources wasted on apprehending the individual. Adding up costs associated with the helicopter, officers involved and the courts, I bet tens of thousands of public dollars went into putting this supposed "criminal" behind bars...

ha ha ha, serves them right. What you need to realize is this wasn't all just for one person. The impact this has extends much further than to this single person. It has invoked fear and with fear you'll surely see a drop in these sort of incidents.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I know a kid that did this and got caught. Everyone but the men in black came down on this kid.
He didn't do any jail time, but he may as well have by the time they left him alone.
He's a nervous wreck now when ever he sees the cops. Prolly a good thing.
Pretty dumb to do something like that. Can't blame the feds really.

reply to post by MDDoxs

MDDoxs
Certainly makes their infrared camera flare pretty bad. Worth 18 months in Jail? no, worth it to bother police offices at risk of 18 months in jail? No.

Incorrect X3...

U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez said at the sentencing hearing that the possible fatal consequences for the pilots and people on the ground justified the stiff sentence...

Just a note to clarify, but my tone in bringing it is a cautionary tale, not a complaining one. In that, I agree with the responses thus far. It is a really stupid thing to do...but then, plenty talk like it's funny.

Now when I was a teen we did use a handheld spotlight to light up 'Angel' or the Orange County Sheriff's helicopter over the hills out there once. Back before lasers were even a thought to consumers like that. They circled for what must have been their fuel before leaving in a huff. I guess no one could get free to come up. it was dumb then too...but at least it wouldn't blind them.

Color me one of those really foolish Rabbits sometimes because I did pass a laser pointer across my vision once, out of curiosity. Not into...just across so the contact was a split second. People say the eyes have no pain receptors? Well, I don't much care what they call it ...but my brain felt like an explosion went off inside it from that split second of laser across one eye.

I couldn't imagine piloting a helicopter and maybe getting multiple hits of it.

Murgatroid
reply to post by MDDoxs

 

MDDoxs
Certainly makes their infrared camera flare pretty bad. Worth 18 months in Jail? no, worth it to bother police offices at risk of 18 months in jail? No.

Incorrect X3...

U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez said at the sentencing hearing that the possible fatal consequences for the pilots and people on the ground justified the stiff sentence...

What is incorrect? Care to elaborate on your awesome one liner?

You think 18 months in justified?

Please note i said shining a laser at a helicopter is not a offense that deserves a possible 18 months sentence and that the very prospect of that kind of reaction makes the persons action (the one shining the laser) stupid and unnecessary.

Dont worry champ, we will get you forum worthy quick.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Good , 18 moths sounds about right to me and sends a message to the other idiots out there willing to endanger innocent peoples lives.
I'm sure I remember a case over here in the UK where the guy got locked up as well .

Well the border patrol would have to assume they are being targeted by a sniper..serious business.
This has been a problem for over a decade. The message doesn't seem to be sinking in.
Some additional reading...

Jetblue pilot suffers eye injury from green laser

Laser injures Delta pilots eye

Sheriff helicopter pilots cleared to work after laser incident caused eye injuries

Good to keep awareness up on this.

reply to post by MDDoxs


I just want ya to be clear here...
You dont think that kid didnt DESERVE 18 months for flashing a laser light into a helicopter pilot's eyes while he was flying?

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

if the helicopter crashed and a few people died, would 18 months still be a harsh punnishment for a 'stupid trick'?

it would be bad a 10yr old doing it, but was a 29yr old.

reply to post by HomerinNC


That is correct.

I also agree that flashing a laser at an aircraft is stupid and should be punishable.

Additionally, it's what a distance for someone to accurately aim a laser into the "eyes" of the pilot. I lol'd at that. Grant it, lasers do disperse, but come on.

Here's another idiot .


These are probably the same type of people that put things on train tracks

So.. a kid with a cheap laser can't do this but guided missile systems use lasers to paint the targets (aircraft) all the time - And no harm comes to the pilot who Cannot even See the laser from his vantage point if they are above a certain height. Even if they are low to the ground you would need a very small window and very tight trajectory to hit the pilot in the eyes.

I honestly don't believe there has ever been a recorded instance of pilots being blinded and killed ( or caused to be killed) by lasers from civilians. I have read pilots claimed to have been blinded for a few seconds by lasers but this is no concern to pilots. It is unheard of that both pilot and co-pilot were blinded not to mention even so, they would quickly recover and or engage the auto pilot.

I cannot find a single instance searching the web where people were actually killed by shining a laser into a cockpit. It is always only a fear it seems though there is no direct evidence. ( of course I could have missed it but it's not like so many people are getting killed by this that it's all over the news - that does Not happen.)

I concede Cessna pilots and other flyers who keep low to the ground, have a single pilot and no auto pilot is at greater risk - yet cant find any of these that died either.

There are even reports that in Egypt thousands of people shot lasers at the military helicopters and none had any ill effects.

n contrast to all this discussion of consumer lasers as grave threats to aircraft, during the July 2013 protests of the Morsi Presidency in Egypt and later celebration of his removal, thousands of protesters and revelers aimed laser pointers at government helicopters with no apparent effect

en.wikipedia.org... - Lasers and aviation safety

I'm not convinced 18 months was warranted.

MDDoxs
reply to post by HomerinNC

 

That is correct.

I also agree that flashing a laser at an aircraft is stupid and should be punishable.

Additionally, it's what a distance for someone to accurately aim a laser into the "eyes" of the pilot. I lol'd at that. Grant it, lasers do disperse, but come on.

So what would have been an appropriate punishment if the light distracted the pilot to where he crashed into a house, killing himself and the occupants, a month on probation?
I feel the punishment was far to lenient

I once shot myself with a "5 WATT" green laser 532nm.. It was almost directly in the eyeballs. I did this by opening the wrong door at the wrong time during an experiment.. The laser wasn't focused, it was in CW mode, and the exposure wasn't more than a split second. However, I can still see just fine, and there was absolutely no pain during the process. Scary, yes, pain and vision damage, no.

Those handheld spot lasers, are less than 100 mW. I think the average is 10 to 25 mW.

You would have to expose a laser of that minute of power directly into your eyeball for more than a few seconds to achieve any type of minor retina burning.


Don't use lasers to shoot at aircraft, that's idiotic. With that said, this reaction by the courts is far too stiff IMO.

or if this person didn't want to go to jail maybe they shouldn't do something incredibly idiotic like shine a light at a helicopter?

I know it is against the rules for some folks here to actually hold people accountable for their actions.

reply to post by HomerinNC


I dont know what punishment would be sutiable.

In my opinion cramming more people in Jail, into an already over crowded system, is not the answer.

I would much rather see a huge fine. Like $500,000.00 or something. That would certainly teach someone a lesson.

Maybe he should have used the "I thought it was a UFO and i was trying to make first Contact" excuse.

Pointing a laser at an aircraft can result in blinding the pilot / pilots, creating a substantial risk to not only the flight crew, but the people on the ground who might be in the way should the aircraft go down.

MDDoxs
What really gets me is the amount of resources wasted on apprehending the individual. Adding up costs associated with the helicopter, officers involved and the courts, I bet tens of thousands of public dollars went into putting this supposed "criminal" behind bars...

edit on 27-9-2013 by MDDoxs because: (no reason given)

Police Helicopters are used for more than just apprehending individuals...

Search and Rescue
Replaces vehicles during high speed pursuits to reduce the fleeing persons speed and danger to the public.
Is a pooled resources other agencies can request / pay into.
Ability to get officers into areas not accessible by car / take hours on foot.
High powered search light during night chases / foot pursuits.


etc etc etc...