Police said lasers were pointed at planes flying above greater Boston Tuesday night, prompting an investigation.
WCVB.com reports, officials from the Federal Aviation Administration told police that crews on-board two commercial planes reported green lasers being pointed at them while flying over the Newton-area at approximately 7:45 p.m.
One flight was heading to Boston, the other on its way to Atlanta.
Officials said the flights’ coordinates were traced to the area around Newton’s Forte Park. Police said they went to scope out the area, but didn’t discover anything unusual.
While shining laser beams at planes won’t cause any structural damage it could potentially blind pilots. No lasers have caused any plane crashes, but the number of reported incidents, similar to last night’s, has drastically increased over the past several years.
So, earlier this month, concerned airline pilots and federal officials started a campaign to warn people that pointing laser beams at planes is dangerous, suggesting the boundaries of common sense still haven’t truly been defined.
Throwing readers a bone, here…
And yes, shining a laser pointer into the cockpit of an aircraft is a felony. Few years ago, the Senate actually passed an amendment to make it a federal crime, which would slap convicted offenders with a fine of up to $250,000 and possibly put them behind bars for up to five years.
Officials are so determined to crack down on the amount of laser incidents that when the awareness campaign was launched Feb. 10, the FBI said it would pay $10,000 for information leading to a conviction in 11 cities, not including Boston. The FBI will only offer the reward for two months, though.
Video via CBS; Image via thv11.com
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