In the audio between the Virgin pilot and air traffic control the pilot states that there was an incident with a laser after takeoff that took place six or seven miles outside of London. All of the flight’s 252 passengers and 15 crew members landed safely at the airport, and Virgin Atlantic Airlines put up the passengers in hotels for the night.
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A spokesperson from the Metropolitan Police said: “Police were contacted at approximately 21:35 on Sunday, February 14 following reports of a laser shone in the direction of a commercial flight that had taken off from Heathrow Airport”.
Passengers are now expected to resume their journey on a flight at 1pm today.
They also have the power to blind. “Aircraft are attacked with lasers at an alarming rate and with lasers with ever-increasing strength”, McAuslan said.
“Laser attacks present a horrendous problem that is worsening with the easy availability of low-priced, high-power lasers”, he said.
“It is absolutely necessary that the government makes these lasers an offensive weapon, they are just the same as carrying a knife”, said BALPA spokesman, Captain Dave Smith.
More than 1,300 incidents were reported in each of the four years from 2010 onwards, compared to only 20 in 2005.
A flight track published on the website FlightAware.com showed that the Airbus A340-600 had passed over the west coast of Ireland when it chose to turn around. “Anyone convicted of shining a laser at an aircraft could face a significant fine or even imprisonment should the safety of an aircraft be endangered”, said a CAA spokesperson. Direct hit have put pilots in the hospital.
The police are attempting to find the source of the beam, but no arrests have been made. The area around Heathrow was the most common location, accounting for 168 of the incidents.
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Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority recorded 48 laser incidents at Heathrow Airport in the first half of 2015. Experts say much more powerful lasers are easily available online; it is not now illegal to own such a device.
