Laser Incidents
Irradiating of aviation crafts with a laser is punishable. These laser irradiations can blind the pilots and thus create a safety risk.
Next to innocent laser pointers (less than 5 milliwatts) that during presentation are used to show something at distance, there are also much stronger laser pointers for sale. There are laser pointers available which have a reach of 10 to 12 kilometres. Such a laser pointer appears to be toy for some, but the use of it can be dangerous.
With some regularity, it happens that aircrafts are irradiated from the ground. It is true that the Analysis Bureau of Aviation Occurrences (ABL) of the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate signals a descending trend in this field in the last two years, still there are respectively 78 and 50 reported incidents. If police are informed of such incidents a criminal investigation is started. Depending on the extent of the culpability and the concrete endangerment an irradiation of an aircraft constitutes a misdemeanour or felony. The reaction of the prosecution will depend on it, such is the conclusion from the Guideline for Criminal Proceedings in Aviation Legislation [VA(N1] .
In the context of these types of investigations, the PPS always considers the safety risks and the consequences of laser irradiations. The strong light of a laser can have a blinding effect for pilots. They can get disorientated from it and even get eye damage as a result. This video from EUROCONTROL discusses the seriousness of the issue
[VA(N1]Link