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Would a cat-toy laser pointer distract a pilot in broad daylight?

A few months ago I got into an argument on TikTok about this. Some guy posted a video where he pretended to shine a laser pointer at a plane during the day, along with his mugshot and a news story about getting arrested for it. It was clearly a joke/photoshopped because the news story said it happened at midnight.

The argument was about a couple things. 1. Would such a low power laser actually be able to hit an aircraft? And 2. My line of thinking is, it’s dangerous to do it at night because the light scatters when it hits the windows and can impair the pilots vision. Would there actually be any similar danger during the day (besides if it hit the pilots eyes directly)?

I know it’s illegal af regardless, maybe it could mess with sensors or cameras or something. But I’m curious if my assumptions are wrong.

edgemaster72 ,
@edgemaster72@lemmy.world avatar

Now I’m wondering how hard/easy would it be to successfully aim a laser pointer to put a dot on a plane at 35,000 feet (assuming the beam isn’t scattered/dispersed completely along the way)

RightHandOfIkaros ,

Never, EVER point a laser at anything in the sky, or in the direction of a person’s face. You can blind people, and if theyre flying a plane or helicopter (or driving, for that matter), you can kill them. And whoever they might crash into if they happen to crash. It is a federal felony in the USA, there may be other similar laws in other locations.

Typically low powered lasers aren’t visible like that, but it doesn’t matter. Just like you always treat a firearm like its loaded and never point it towards people, treat every laser like its high powered and never point them at peoples faces or at helicopters or planes.

darvocet ,

It’s a federal felony, so I’d pass. Source: Pilot

lynny ,
@lynny@lemmy.world avatar

youtube.com/watch?v=zoMtKI4J2VM&feature=shareb

TonyTonyChopper ,
@TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz avatar

I doubt they would be able to see it. Low powered red lasers are pretty harmless even close up, let alone after spreading and being absorbed by air for a few kms

david ,

Don’t. Just don’t. Don’t ever. Doesn’t matter how safe you think it is in your armchair. Just don’t. And don’t encourage it or minimise it.

TonyTonyChopper ,
@TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz avatar

Oi bruv you got ya buttah knoif loicense up to date

tristar ,

Cat toy? Probably not. Stronger lasers can absolutely mess up the pilot’s eyesight and put you in jail, but a low-powered one is unlikely to cause harm. Still, never shine anything at an airplane.

rayman30 ,
@rayman30@lemmy.world avatar

If the pilot is a cat, I’m sure it would

{Edit} Oops, I guess I am not the only dad here

chris ,
@chris@fedia.io avatar

Is the pilot a cat?

FuglyDuck ,
@FuglyDuck@lemmy.world avatar

Depends on the power.

The little things that run off tiny button batteries? Almost certainly not. The bigger/more powerful ones might.

That said, don’t. It’s stupid to try, especially if you think it could. I mean think about it. You think it might blind a pilot? That’s a lot of lives your potentially putting at risk.

What possible motivation could cause you to want to risk it?

low_bass2 OP ,

It was one of those tiny toy ones. Yeah, definitely still a dumb idea. Not condoning it or recommending it ever. It was just a dumb internet argument, but I second guessed myself, because people were insistent that it would still reach the plane

david ,

Your “but this won’t reach the plane” reasoning is exactly and precisely why this is illegal.

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