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Panic in the sky
Trouble continues to brew in New South Wales, where the federal government is attempting to deal with multiple incidents of aircraft pilots being distracted by hand-held laser pointers shone from the ground at Sydney airport.
The problems are said to be escalating due to the easy availability of green laser pointers, which are widely used by astronomers, architects and other professions. Unlike older red pointers, which are typically under 1 mW in power, green sources can deliver more than 20 mW and are apparently long-range enough to reach aircraft on final approach to landing.
The ideal solution would be an outbreak of sense among those with the pointers, but in the absence of that Australia’s legislators are getting twitchy.
After an incident involving an air ambulance, it seems that New South Wales will now class the most powerful types of pointer as if they were firearms, with proposed sentences of up to 14 years for carrying one without a permit. Holders of the old fashioned red variety will be treated more leniently, on a par with carrying a knife. Western Australia has reached similar conclusions, classing the pointers as controlled weapons with 12 months jail for their illegal use.
The NSW Premier has talked of banning hand-held lasers to “stop the potential for mass murder”. No sensible person underestimates the importance of air safety, but what is language like this doing to the public perception of a very simple scientific tool? How long before the phrase “death ray” makes an appearance?
Is banning the pointers the only option?
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