Glasgow worst place in UK for laser attacks on planes

AIRCRAFT landing in Scotland’s largest city are now subject to the most laser attacks in the UK.

A total of 70 incidents involving high-powered laser pens being shone into cockpits have been recorded in Glasgow so far this year – the equivalent of one every other day.

This compares with 107 for the whole of 2011, and just five in 2008.

Pilots can be temporarily blinded in such attacks, most of which happen as aircraft are coming in to land.

The figures from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) outstrip those for Heathrow, the previous laser hotspot, which has had 45 incidents this year, compared with 153 last year, when there were a total of 1,900 across the UK.

In the latest Glasgow incident, Strathclyde Police’s helicopter was targeted by a laser from the Maryhill area of the city on Monday night.

In another attack, on 25 February, both pilots of a Boeing 757, which can carry some 200 passengers and which was on its final approach to land at Glasgow Airport, were “dazzled and startled” by a laser, the CAA said.

CAA officials said the surge in incidents in Glasgow might be because of a few people being responsible for multiple attacks, or it could be a current craze among youths.

The issue has become a global problem because of the easy availability of high-powered lasers via the internet. However, a change in the law two years ago has made it easier for offenders to be convicted in the UK by reducing the burden of proof required.

They can now be fined up to £2,500 for shining a laser at an airborne aircraft, regardless of intent.

Offenders can still be prosecuted on the more serious charge of endangering an aircraft. This resulted in a 22-year-old man being jailed for nine months in April for shining a laser at the Strathclyde Police helicopter in 2009.

A CAA spokesman said: “Glasgow is now the worst- affected airport in the UK. The more incidents we see, the greater the likelihood of a more serious incident.

“It could coincide with another hazard like strong winds, which could lead to the pilot losing control of the aircraft.”

The main pilots’ union said lives were at risk. A spokesman for the British Airline Pilots Association said: “The number of laser attacks across the UK is growing all the time and this is extremely concerning.”

Chief Inspector Stewart Rorrison, of Strathclyde Police, said: “We take this type of reckless and inconsiderate behaviour seriously and we will pursue and arrest anyone who uses laser pens inappropriately.”