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So you're saying that the commercial pilot of Virgin Atlantic flight VS025 that called "pan pan pan" to request an urgent return to Heathrow was overreacting an
by Johnny555 11y ago
So you're saying that the commercial pilot of Virgin Atlantic flight VS025 that called "pan pan pan" to request an urgent return to Heathrow was overreacting and that his co-pilot suffered no serious vision loss? Note that the laser strike was on takeoff and they didn't land until about 2 hours after departure, so the pilot's vision was still affected an hour into the flight.
- tzakrajs 11y agoI believe that is exactly what he is saying.
- omegant 11y agoNo, he maybe was hit badly, maybe was filling dizzy afterwards and they thought the laser was the reason. I don't know all the possible effects of a laser in a human eye, nor the power of this laser or the medical situation of the pilot prior to the encounter. Also if one of the pilots finds himself unable to continue the flight, the other pilot has to declare pan pan, or even may day, as he is operating alone, it seems a bit dramatic but it's mandated that way. What I know is that common laser incidents are annoying to pilots but usually harmless, and the pilot's association request to ban all lasers is over the top. You still got to prosecute the dumb people playing to blind pilots anyway, not just for medical injuries, but because you are in a delicate parts of the flight and every distraction has potential consequences during landing and take-off.