Pope’s plane in close call with laser over Mexico
Tuesday, 18 Feb, 2016
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It seems even the Pope is not safe from the blight of laser beams being aimed at planes in the sky.
Alitalia said in a statement the Papal flight was almost hit by a laser pointer as it touched down in Mexico ahead of the Pope’s five-day visit.
The plane’s crew ‘noticed a laser light from the ground’ while it was about 8,000 feet in the air on approach to the Mexico City Airport.
The Airbus A330 jet landed safely and the captain immediately reported the incident to authorities, the statement said.
"The captain immediately informed the control tower of what he had seen, as per normal procedure," Alitalia said.
Laser pointers can cause temporary ‘flash blindness’ and earlier this week a US-bound Virgin Atlantic flight turned back due to a laser attack – the first time a commercial jet has been diverted for this reason.
According to the FAA there more than 5,000 laser strikes on commercial and private aircraft from January through mid-October 2015, which compares to just 384 in 2006, the first year the agency began recording data on laser strikes.
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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