Legal Air News………….Shedding some light on laser pointers
This legal air news update, brought to you by leading aviation lawyers Piper Alderman, says that this week the Senate passed the Aviation Legislation Amendment (2007 Measures No. 1) Bill 2007 which, among other things, proposes to amend s24 of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 to provide that a person outside an aircraft can be guilty of the offence of interference with aircrew, or endangering an aircraft or passengers.
While not specifically mentioned in the legislation, this amendment is aimed squarely at the conduct of persons pointing laser lights at aircraft cockpits.
According to the Federal Department of Transport, there have been 170 reports of laser lights being directed at aircraft since January 2006, and almost 50 of these were between April and June this year.
The most recent report was from the pilot of a flight landing at Sydney Airport on 10 August 2007.
The Bill proposes a penalty of 2 years imprisonment, the offence applying to any aircraft, whether a passenger aircraft or one only carrying freight.
In 2005 the United States Congress passed the Securing Aircraft Cockpits Against Lasers Act which amended the United States Code making it an offence to interfere with, or attempt to interfere with the ability of the flight crew or the safe operation of an aircraft by illuminating the aircraft with a laser pointer. The punishment for such an offence is a fine of up to $250,000 or up to 5 years imprisonment or both.
Much more serious punishments apply if the person is charged with interference with an aircraft under the US Patriot Act. Here an offender is liable to a fine of up to $500,000 or 25 years in prison.
However, time will tell whether this amendment to Australian legislation will have any effect in actually reducing the incidents of laser pointers being directed at aircraft.
While pilots, crew and passengers can usually tell where the light came from, determining who exactly was pointing it can be another matter altogether.
Keep watching those skies…
A Special Legal Air News Exclusive Update brought to you by leading aviation lawyers, Piper Alderman.
John Alwyn-Jones
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