Twelve New Jersey-area flights reported being hit by lasers in one night in July.
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Police say they have arrested and charged a suspect who allegedly pointed a laser at a news helicopter flying over Brooklyn.
In NY, a beam hit a Channel 4 news helicopter flying near the Barclays Center arena in Brooklyn at 5:15 p.m. (2215 GMT) on Wednesday.
Police in the air worked with their colleagues on the ground to track the suspect to the rear of a building near downtown Brooklyn, where he was taken into custody, the NYPD said.
There were 116 laser-pointing incidents in the tri-state area in 2014, WNBC said. Six days later, five other crews reported similar incidents. A Southwest Airlines plane and Virgin America plane en route from Austin and a private business jet were affected, FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said. All three were inbound to Dallas Love Field.
No arrests have been reported in the Dallas case. The planes were at altitudes of between 3,000 and 4,000 feet. He says a law enforcement helicopter was sent to investigate.
We hear a lot of stories of bored idiots shining laser pointers at airplanes and helicopters, but rarely do we get to see immensely satisfying video of said idiots getting busted by the cops. Laser strikes are at a record high this year in general, hitting a few 1,750 planes over a course of just three months.
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