Airplane pilots face the scourge of lasers pointed at them during important flight procedures.
Last October, a 12-year-old boy had his laser confiscated by the SPVM following pointing it at three planes landing at Montreal-Trudeau airport.
Dominic Daoust, a pilot who has been targeted by lasers twice, compares the effect of the light beam to that of the sun.
“There is a flicker and it catches our attention. Instinctively, we look and puff, it catches our eye.
“It’s like someone is looking at the sun and coming back. There is like a point of light following us”, explains the pilot.
“These are phases of flight where we want to have our full attention,” says Mr. Daoust.
The three aircraft involved on October 23 all had a capacity of more than 90 passengers; it is therefore the lives of many people that were in question.
In fact, pointing a laser at an aircraft is a criminal offense with a maximum fine of $100,000 and a maximum sentence of five years.
There are still no criminal charges in the October 23 case.
