Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) – Attacks with laser pointers on aircraft have increased around Frankfurt Airport in recent months. A total of 44 of these dangerous incidents were recorded near Germany’s largest airport in August and September, as the Federal Aviation Office (LBA) announced at the request of the German Press Agency. There were 60 incidents in the entire year of 2022.
In most cases, according to the Federal Aviation Office, aircraft are irradiated with lasers when approaching for landing. However, so-called laser attacks also occur on aircraft taking off and on planes in cruise flight. According to the information, the cockpit crew is usually briefly distracted. In some cases, pilots also experience short-term visual impairments, which must be clarified clinically if they do not subside quickly.
“It’s an unpleasant thing and can also be dangerous,” said Matthias Baier, spokesman for the Cockpit Pilots’ Association, who himself has experienced laser blinding as a pilot. “What you immediately lose when you look into the source is night vision. The cockpit becomes really bright,” said Baier. The mostly night-time incidents can be dangerous, especially during the landing approach, and make it difficult to see the flight instruments.
According to the Federal Aviation Office, a quick alarm chain should help track down perpetrators: The cockpit crew reports the laser attack to air traffic control, which in turn notifies the police from the tower. As a pilot, having to tell the police exactly where the laser came from is often unsatisfactory: “If you don’t know your way around, it’s difficult to assign it,” said Baier. Because it is so difficult to find the culprits, Baier believes it makes sense to restrict access to powerful laser pointers. “A proof of need like for signal pistols would be worth discussing,” said the pilot.
According to the criminal code, laser attacks are dangerous interference with air traffic that can be punished with six months to ten years in prison. Even negligent blinding can result in a prison sentence of up to five years or a fine.
“Ignorance of criminal liability is often the reason for being blinded with a laser pointer,” said Chief Detective Lars Krämer from the criminal police in Offenbach. The South East Hesse Police Headquarters had reported an increased number of laser incidents in their area of responsibility in the past two months. Possible crime scenes included Offenbach, Mühlheim am Main, Neu-Isenburg and Langen.
Last week, a US military machine was illuminated with a laser beam over the Rhine in Wiesbaden. The origin of the laser was roughly assigned to a street, but according to a police spokeswoman, the perpetrators have not yet been caught.
According to data from German Air Traffic Control (DFS), the number of laser blinding incidents nationwide has declined in recent years. In the current year, the DFS counts 368 reported cases across Germany as of mid-October; in 2022 there were 385 reported cases of laser blinding.
At the beginning of the 2010s there were significantly higher numbers: “In 2011 there were 636 cases nationwide, in 2012 there were 720,” said Kristina Kelek, spokeswoman for the DFS in Langen. The German Air Traffic Control maintains separate statistics on incident reports in aviation from the Federal Aviation Office.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:231018-99-604242/3
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