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> People who shine lasers at aircraft face FAA fines of up to $11,000 per violation and up to $30,800 for multiple laser incidents. The FAA has issued $600,000

by Gys 5y ago

> People who shine lasers at aircraft face FAA fines of up to $11,000 per violation and up to $30,800 for multiple laser incidents. The FAA has issued $600,000 in fines since 2016, which includes $120,000 in 2021. I wonder how they can locate the persons doing this? Good thing they are able to at least fine some of them.

throwaway894345 5y ago
According to TFA, there's a reporting form, so presumably it's people on the ground who are reporting others.
heavyset_go 5y ago
I read an article about this years ago. You can use triangulation or trilateration, or something similar to them, to ascertain the point on the ground from which the laser was shined.
sva_ 5y ago
Depends what kind of aircraft. There are a bunch of videos like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75aUKIIY1Lg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75aUKIIY1Lg
- ineedasername 5y ago
  Wow, that was pretty amazing. "He chucked something into the corner near the garden". Pretty good accuracy.
dmitrygr 5y ago
You call it in to the ATC, give an approximate "from" location, they dispatch local police, and often enough they find someone on the ground with a visible laser beam aimed up. Source: am pilot, have done this, talked to police for follow-up
dogma1138 5y ago
Locating is rather easy, you get a rough location just by having the altitude, position, heading and inclination of the aircraft you can also see which direction the beam is coming from so you can probably easily triangulate to a few blocks. The lasers are super visible from the ground at night so a call to ATC would get the police on the case quickly and they’ll track it down. Patrol cars can also spot those lasers without a reported strike and they’ll investigate. What surprises me is that the penalty is so low considering the potential impact of a laser strike, one would think the fine would be 10 times as much and the offense would include prison time.

by Gys 5y ago

throwaway894345 5y ago

According to TFA, there's a reporting form, so presumably it's people on the ground who are reporting others.

heavyset_go 5y ago

I read an article about this years ago. You can use triangulation or trilateration, or something similar to them, to ascertain the point on the ground from which the laser was shined.

sva_ 5y ago

Depends what kind of aircraft. There are a bunch of videos like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75aUKIIY1Lg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75aUKIIY1Lg

ineedasername 5y ago
Wow, that was pretty amazing. "He chucked something into the corner near the garden". Pretty good accuracy.

dmitrygr 5y ago

You call it in to the ATC, give an approximate "from" location, they dispatch local police, and often enough they find someone on the ground with a visible laser beam aimed up. Source: am pilot, have done this, talked to police for follow-up

dogma1138 5y ago

Locating is rather easy, you get a rough location just by having the altitude, position, heading and inclination of the aircraft you can also see which direction the beam is coming from so you can probably easily triangulate to a few blocks. The lasers are super visible from the ground at night so a call to ATC would get the police on the case quickly and they’ll track it down. Patrol cars can also spot those lasers without a reported strike and they’ll investigate. What surprises me is that the penalty is so low considering the potential impact of a laser strike, one would think the fine would be 10 times as much and the offense would include prison time.