Airline Pilots Report Laser-Pointing Near JFK

Authorities are looking for whoever pointed green lasers at five airliners Thursday night in the airspace near JFK Airport, the New York Post reported. The crews of two Delta airliners, an American Airlines jet and a Shuttle America flight reported laser light in the cockpits at 8,000 feet between 9:30 and 10 p.m. Thursday after departing JFK, the Post reported. Later that night, a Sun Country airliner also reported seeing a laser. ATC recordings indicate the pilots weren't harmed by the green lasers and no injuries were reported, according to the Post. "Looks like some lasers coming outside now," a pilot told a controller, who then asked, "Does it look like it's coming straight up or from a distance?" The pilot replied, "No, I am not looking down at it. But it is lighting up the inside of the windshield here from the left side."

Laser-pointing at cockpits, which can temporarily blind pilots, has become a recurring problem in recent years and is a federal crime. Thursday's incidents come a few weeks after a Bronx man pleaded guilty to pointing a laser at three jets and a police helicopter near LaGuardia Airport. Elehecer Balaguer, 54, was arrested in March and will be sentenced in September, a Post report said. He was caught when police helicopters, responding to the airliners' reports, saw the laser beam coming from his apartment.