Stay updated with breaking news from Laser up. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
a plane at night and it causes this scenario in which the pilots become concerned they could be temporarily blinded. we have seen a dramatic increase. more than 1100% increase in instances over the last ten years. that despite the faa and the ib if really coming down hard on this. the fine is a quarter million dollar fine and up to 20 years in prison if you are found guilty of shining a laser at a plane. but, andrea, almost always this is some knucklehead, to be candid usually a young man, teen to early 20s, sitting in his backyard and pointing thinks it's a good idea to point a laser up on a plane and it can have devastating consequences. we've seen police helicopter pilots suffer permanent eye damage. we've seen commercial pilots report they have suffered damage to the retinas. take some time to recover from. the concern is that it could happen and then create just a tragedy in the skies and on approach into an airport. so now the fbi and the police
aimed at an airplane's cockpit. it's a senatoria that cenario t times throughout the country. listen as a plane is coming into jfk airport last year. >> we encountered a laser up here into the cockpit. it caught the first officer's eye. >> reporter: in new york city the fbi says incidents targeting planes have jumped 17%. >> we don't have an idea why, it has been a 17 increase over last year regarding these incidents. so are they concerning to us? >> it will not physically hurt the airplane t. laser can blind the pilot, can temporarily blind the pilot and also the effect of this startling burst of light into the cockpit. >> reporter: a dangerous distraction for pilots. according to faa the laser incidents is 13 times higher now than previous years. compare more than 350 incidents