Blue Laser Attack Nets Two Years

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A Minnesota man whose laser attacks distracted and affected the vision of a Delta Air Lines crew was sentenced to two years in jail in a Wisconsin court last week. Nicholas James Link of Rochester, Minnesota, pleaded guilty in January to shining a blue laser into the flight deck of the Delta aircraft and to also lighting up a Minnesota State Patrol aircraft that was involved in the investigation. According to the Associated Press, prosecutors said U.S. District Court Judge William Conley took into account that the laser strike distracted the pilots while they were complying with a change in their approach ordered by air traffic control.

“Judge Conley called aiming a laser at an aircraft incredibly dangerous and reckless, and in this case forced the Delta pilots to focus on their temporary blindness which put everyone on the aircraft in incredible danger,” a statement from the prosecutors said. The flight, which was setting up for Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport on a flight from Raleigh-Durham, was hit by the lasers as it descended through 9,000 feet and the pilots were punching data for a runway change. “The laser strikes caused a major distraction in the cockpit as they were not able to look at their iPads to brief the new approach,” the prosecutors’ statement said. They landed without incident.

Meanwhile the State Police aircraft was sent to help find the suspect and he made it easy by lighting it up, too. Local police on the ground found Link with the blue laser still on him. Blue laser attacks are relatively rare and potentially more dangerous than the more common green and red incidents. Human eyes are less sensitive to the shorter wavelengths of the blue light so they don’t react as quickly to the damaging rays.

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22 COMMENTS

  1. Laser effects on the eye
    The unprotected human eye is extremely sensitive to laser radiation and can be permanently damaged from direct or reflected beams.

    Due to tissue characteristics, the area of the eye damaged by laser energy is dependent upon the wavelength of the incident laser beam. The retina, cornea, and lens are the areas most commonly damaged.

    blink.ucsd.edu/safety/radiation/lasers/effects.html#:~:text=Due%20to%20tissue%20characteristics%2C%20the,the%20areas%20most%20commonly%20damaged.

  2. Not to pick nits, but the usage of “incredible” in the statement from prosecutors is questionable. “Incredible” means “not credible” or “unbelieveable” and the actions of the criminal were credible and believeable enough to get him convicted. “Incredible” would be better used in a different context, such as “this guy got an incredibly light sentence.”

  3. “Light” sentence indeed…

    All feeble attempts at humor aside, this is a very serious crime and the consequences of a laser strike are potentially tragic (as we all know). Perhaps the pendulum will swing the other way once more and we will actually begin to get more tough on crime (well, I can hope).

  4. I agree, Wally.
    “The unprotected human eye is extremely sensitive to laser radiation and can be permanently damaged from direct or reflected beams.

    Due to tissue characteristics, the area of the eye damaged by laser energy is dependent upon the wavelength of the incident laser beam. The retina, cornea, and lens are the areas most commonly damaged.”

    blink.ucsd.edu/safety/radiation/lasers/effects.html#:~:text=Due%20to%20tissue%20characteristics%2C%20the,the%20areas%20most%20commonly%20damaged.
    Reply

  5. Not condoning these laser strikes in any way, but I do wish the media would also report the laser power level. These things are available commercially between about 1mWatt and 100Watt – yes, that range covers 5 orders of magnitude – a factor of 100’000. Needless to say that the effect on eyes is very different for 100Watt vs 1mWatt. Yet I am still looking for the first news article on this topic that actually states what laser was used.

  6. The article doesn’t say, but are most of the idiots who do this stupid teenagers who don’t know any better, or malicious adults? It’s hard to imagine any adult, other than a terrorist, doing this.

    The fact that he hit the cops with the laser too does cast serious doubt on his reasoning ability.

    • There are plenty of idiot adults, no need for terrorists. When I was younger, a women told me that men don’t start to mature (in the social/emotional sense) prior to age 35. At close to twice that, I now have to agree with her. Many have had “seemed like an OK idea at the time” moments.
      The guy did plead out, and essentially trashed his family.

  7. This is a good example of the out of control morons that more and more run amok in our country. Perhaps, along with incarseration they should be beat with a cane every morning before breakfast.