Lasers a tragedy waiting in wings

It is deeply worrying that the lives of hundreds of people are being endangered by ignorant, or malicious pranksters shining laser pointers at aircraft close to our major airports. Pilots on approach to the busiest airports – King Shaka in Durban, Cape Town and OR Tambo International in Johannesburg – have taken to flying almost combat-type descents, turning off navigation and other lights to hide the position of their aircraft.

That is so they avoid getting blinded by the lasers, which can obscure everything in a cockpit at night with their blinding light. The “going dark” method of avoidance is highly risky, considering that an airliner is moving at high speeds in the pitch darkness.

South African Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson Sisa Majola told us there have been more than 200 incidents of people potentially blinding pilots over the past couple of years, with incident numbers shooting up 16% last year.

There have been few prosecutions, because tracking down the culprits is a complex process and because, even if aviation authorities do manage to do this, it is the police and prosecution authorities who must bring the miscreants before a court.

A much more forceful approach needs to be taken towards these crimes – because that is what they are. Last year, an American man was jailed for two years after being convicted of endangering a plane with a laser pointer. That has got to start happening here – especially with adults, who should know better.

But, at the same time, the government should include awareness of these sort of dangers in the school curriculum, as well as educating adults about the dangers of allowing children to use these instruments unsupervised.

Perhaps a ban on selling them over the counter can also be considered. Severe measures are necessary to prevent an awful tragedy.