Caroline shares this important message from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance.Ed
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance is seeking to warn the public about laser attacks and the threat they pose to the safety of the Air Ambulance.
Since the introduction of night time operations in January 2016, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance flights have become more susceptible to laser attacks. Laser attacks are always sudden, very distracting and can cause temporary visual disturbance for some time after an attack.
Can cause temporary flash blindness
The consequences of a laser attack can include; distraction, temporary flash blindness, and even eye injury.
In addition, the human eye is much more sensitive to green light-laser, the most common form of laser attack today.
A threat to pilots
Although current knowledge and experience suggests the low power levels available to existing hand-held lasers are unlikely to cause permanent eye damage, the threat posed by the availability of higher power lasers in the future should not be discounted.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance CEO Alex Lochrane said:
“Aiming a laser at an aircraft can be dangerous for those on-board, but it could also mean our life-saving service is disrupted.
“Any distractions during a landing, for example, could mean a life-saving mission is delayed or aborted. It could also distract an on-board medic carrying out critical work on an injured patient.”
Offenders can be prosecuted
In 2010 legislation was introduced which allows offenders to be prosecuted for shining a light at an aircraft in flight so as to dazzle or distract a pilot. According to the Daily Mail, between 2009 and 2015 more than 8,998 laser incidents across the country were reported to the Civil Aviation Authority.
Pressure is currently being placed on the government to classify lasers as offensive weapons and so empower police to arrest individuals in possession of a laser without good reason.
Welcome new legislation
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance pilot, Captain Dave Nicholls, who has previous experience of laser attacks while flying, said;
“It might seem harmless enough, but a laser shone at a helicopter in the final stages of an approach could easily be enough to cause the pilot to abort a landing.”
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance CEO Alex Lochrane concluded,
“We welcome any new legislation that will protect the safety of our pilots and crew, and ultimately the service that we are able to provide to the community that we serve.
“Whilst I hope this is never necessary, everyone involved in our life-saving service would work as closely as possible with the police to apprehend anyone who ever targets our aircraft with a laser.”
The Air Ambulance
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance flies seven days a week and attends an average of two to three missions a day, many of them life-saving.
The charity receives no government, statutory or national lottery funding for routine operations, and is entirely dependent on donations received from members of the public, companies and grant-making bodies to keep the Air Ambulance flying and saving lives.
