Lasers a Threat to Aviation???

As you may or may not know, it is a federal offense to point a laser, even one of those little handheld ones, at an aircraft. But it seems some countries across the pond, namely Australia, have not banned such activities. Some states within Australia have a laser ban, however, the state with the biggest city, Sydney (in New South Wales), does not.

Over the past weekend, six aircraft have had to alter their flight paths when arriving into Sydney. Beams from four green lasers, which appeared to come from one area southwest of Sydney were directed at aircraft for 15 minutes. Officials think this is a coordinated, deliberate attack.

Officials are considering a ban on small laser pointers. Get caught carrying said laser pointers and you may face electrocution, firing squad, or other torture stiff fines or jail time. I'm not sure of the motive behind an all-out ban, but whatever they think will solve their problems.

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