Article from BTNews 6 MARCH 2017
Lasers 'cause for concern'
The number of laser incidents around airports is a major cause for concern according to the pilots’ union British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) last week after Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data for 2016 showed 1,258 attacks on aircraft.
While this is down slightly from the 2015 figure, the total, averaging more than three incidents a day, is still a real threat to aviation safety, BALPA said, with Heathrow experiencing the highest level of attacks at 151 incidents, up from 121 in 2015.
The CAA figures showed Birmingham and Manchester also continued to experience high numbers of attacks, and incidents at Glasgow had almost doubled on the previous year.
BALPA flight safety specialist Steve Landells, said: “While on the face of it the fall in laser incidents is positive, and may be as a result of our ongoing campaign, we are concerned that at more than three reports a day this figure is still dangerously high.
“We’re also concerned that under-reporting of incidents could mean we don’t have a true idea of the scale of the problem. Shining a laser at aircraft is incredibly dangerous and a real threat to flight safety.”
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