Aircraft Laser Pointer Incidents Surge Despite Strict Penalties

The Federal Aviation Administration received 12,840 reports of individuals pointing lasers at aircraft in 2024.

American Airlines pilot captain Pete Gamble (L) and first officer John Konstanzer conduct a pre-flight check in the cockpit of a Boeing 737 Max jet in Grapevine, Texas, on Dec. 2, 2020. LM Otero/AP Photo

On a fair autumn evening on Nov. 20, 2022, civilian pilot Jonathon Fay was landing his two-seater plane at Arlington Airport in Washington state when a sudden flash of blue light blinded him.

“I had to figure out how to land the plane. If I had been flying an older aircraft without the instrument visual aids, I likely would not have survived,” Fay told a federal court in Seattle on Jan. 5, 2024.