Air Tahiti Nui Pilot Blinded By Laser During Landing Approach
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The pilot of an Air Tahiti Nui Airbus A340-300 aircraft was blinded earlier this month as he was approaching the French Pacific territory's main international
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At the time, the aircraft, with some 290 passengers onboard, was preparing to land after a flight from
The pilot told the newspaper he was then blinded by an intense green light, which he said felt was voluntarily pointed at the plane's cockpit from the ground.
This, it said, forced him to try and prevent the green ray from reaching his eyes. At one point, the newspaper said, the pilot considered aborting the landing.
The light source then ceased and the pilot was able to land the aircraft undisturbed.
Local police have launched an inquiry into the matter and initial finding seem to indicate the laser pointer was originating from the Pape'ete's main wharf area.
While Air Tahiti Nui states this is the second incident of this type on one of their aircraft in as many years, a court case related to a very similar incident took place last week in
On Tuesday April 8, a 23-year-old South Australian has pleaded guilty to prejudicing the safe operation of an aircraft and was sentenced to 2 years and 10 months jail, Radio
Lanfranco Baldetti was last week one of the first persons to face court action for shining a laser and therefore "prejudicing the safe operation of an aircraft.”
Baldetti pleaded guilty to the charge that related to his being arrested in June 2007 after he was found shining a laser at a police helicopter as it flew at low level in the Port Adelaide area (South of Australia), causing the pilot to be temporarily blinded.
Earlier this month, New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma went as far as indicating that he was seriously contemplating declaring laser pointers "prohibited weapons."
This followed a series of incidents upon landing at the
"These fools think it's a joke -- it's not a joke if you end up blinding a pilot, bringing a plane down, and potentially killing dozens if not hundreds of people on the plane and on the ground. This could be mass murder," an infuriated Iemma told local media.
Australia's federal government has also begun meeting with police and law enforcement agencies in order to draft a series of recommendations on dealing with this new type of attack on aircraft, Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus said.
"We are in fact dealing with a new kind of very destructive behavior," Debus said.
