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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Anyone know this moron?

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The link at the bottom has video.


A 30-year-old Sykesville man was arrested and charged with shining a laser pointer at a Maryland State Police helicopter early Monday morning.
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Connor Grant Brown is charged with reckless endangerment, obstructing and hindering and shining a laser pointer at an aircraft, state police said. Additional charges may be added, police said.

State police said they were providing aviation support to the Carroll County’s Sheriff’s Office at 1:05 a.m. in the area of the 800 block of Klees Mill Road in Westminster. The cockpit of the aircraft was hit by a green laser beam approximately eight times, they said.

State police said the crew was forced to abort its mission in an attempt to locate the source of the laser beam. From a pilot's perspective, a beam of light like the laser can have devastating consequences, officials said.

"They were literally attacked by laser beams coming from a different area in Carroll County," MSP spokeswoman Elena Russo said.

The origin of the laser came was determined to be a home in the 1200 block of Canterbury Drive, police said. Investigators said Brown, who lives at that address, operated the laser device that struck the helicopter. The laser device was recovered and Brown was arrested.

WBAL-TV 11 News tried to talk to Brown about the incident, but no one responded at his home.

"This is a very serious incident for people working inside an aircraft to be hit with a laser beams. These high-powered beams can cause temporary blindness. They can cause damage to somebody's retina, so not only does it cause problems for people on board the aircraft, but it could also be catastrophic for anybody on the ground, should they lose control of the aircraft," Russo said.

The FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration have been notified of the incident. Directing light from a laser pointer at an aircraft can also be prosecuted as a federal crime.

The pilot and the crew chief of the helicopter, both of the Maryland State Police Aviation Command, suffered eye injuries in the incident. They were taken to Frederick Memorial Hospital for treatment and were later released, police said.

The helicopter had four people on board. The light affected two of them.

"A pilot and trooper paramedic on board were both affected by these laser beams. They were transported to Frederick Memorial Hospital, where they are undergoing some medical treatment, and I know there is some follow-up going on with an ophthalmologist," Russo said.

Brown was released on his own recognizance. He is scheduled to be in court on March 24.
Sykesville man charged with shining laser pointer at MSP helicopter
 
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The pilot and the crew chief of the helicopter, both of the Maryland State Police Aviation Command, suffered eye injuries in the incident. They were taken to Frederick Memorial Hospital for treatment and were later released, police said.

The helicopter had four people on board. The light affected two of them.

"A pilot and trooper paramedic on board were both affected by these laser beams. They were transported to Frederick Memorial Hospital, where they are undergoing some medical treatment, and I know there is some follow-up going on with an ophthalmologist," Russo said.

Going to call complete bullsh*t on that. No way they suffered anything more than flash blindness.
 
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Going to call complete bullsh*t on that. No way they suffered anything more than flash blindness.

well to be fair, a pilot's eyes are his or her livelihood. If I were a pilot and someone shined a laser in my eyes I would take every precaution to ensure my eyes are healthy.
 
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I wonder what the distance is between the house and where the aircraft was when the fell under assault. I believe pilots are conditioned to exaggerate. Add to that the machoismo of a police heli pilot. Probably gods gift to earth if you ask him/her.
 
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I wonder what the distance is between the house and where the aircraft was when the fell under assault. I believe pilots are conditioned to exaggerate. Add to that the machoismo of a police heli pilot. Probably gods gift to earth if you ask him/her.

from the video it looked like somewhere close to 1000 feet of the ground but hard to tell because they were zooming in on the laser.
 

Benm

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well to be fair, a pilot's eyes are his or her livelihood. If I were a pilot and someone shined a laser in my eyes I would take every precaution to ensure my eyes are healthy.

Sure. So let's do something sensible and characterize the laser used, and the calculate if MPE could have been exceeded for the pilot and crew of this helicopter.

IF there was a danger the person causing it shoudl be prosecuted for creating that danger, but if there was none, it would be limited to interfering with traffic or something like that.

I case you want to see what laser pointers do to helicopter crews, find the footage of the overthrowing of Mubarak in egypt. You'll see numerious army helicopters flying over a large crowd pointing lasers up at them in any color and power range. None of the flight crew of those helicopters reported any injury from that day, despite being lit up by hundreds of laser pointers during their victory flight.
 
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I think that video was from another incident, looks like from an apartment, not that house.

I would like to see the real video.

People have to be extra careful and keep lasers out of the sky if any aircraft are anywhere in sight or even if you hear one and can't see it.

Don't take any chances.
 
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from the video it looked like somewhere close to 1000 feet of the ground but hard to tell because they were zooming in on the laser.

Edit: intentional or not this could easily happen to any one of us, all it takes is once. I don't want an aircraft to even see me lasing at my fence in the backyard. Time to lay low fellas. Would suck to ruin your life from a laser.
 
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yeah redcowboy is right, with the tremendous amount of fake news widespread you really can't believe any news agency outside of independent reporters like mark dice.
 

Encap

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100 mW 532nm was what the guy was using one report said---the officer in the helicpoter said: "He's had about 12 other run-ins with lasers, but what made it different was the power of the laser. In most cases, he was dealing with a 25-milliwatt laser. The one allegedly used by Brown was 100 milliwatts, Lantz said." When the strike occurred last night, TFC Lantz was wearing night vision goggles, which significantly increase any light source and, when struck by a laser, can blind the person wearing the goggles, as well as seriously damage the night vision equipment.

The guy hit the cockpit 8 times with the laser.

Looks like a 100mW 532nm can dazzle/cause flashblindness up to about 1300 feet according to hazard distance charts.

See: http://www.laserpointersafety.com/resources/FAA---visible-laser-hazard-calcs-for-LSF-v02.png
and
See: http://www.laserist.org/files/laser-pointer-hazard-distances-table-large.jpg

100mW can cause eye damage under the right conditions out to about 250 feet . The guy was charged with pointing a laser at an aircraft
 
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94Z28

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When will these bozo's learn not to point a laser at an aircraft?! How many people have been charged lately... I mean sheesh the lack of common sense these days =o
 

BobMc

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A little common sense should be used when using lasers. One beam flash at a object can be an accident, maybe two, but if it's true, eight times, find that hard to believe it was anything but deliberate.
 
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The act is wrong in every respect, but these guys who do this are proven doubly stupid, they do it from their own houses or neighborhoods. Same reason robbers are often caught, if they are stupid enough to do it, they are usually stupid enough to get caught too.

I could have accidentally flashed an aircraft some years ago. I was pointing my laser at a mountain top 5 miles from my house, shooting just over the top of the mountain because I knew there were climbers up there at night and might see it shoot over them.... then I saw a pin-point of light coming from the mountain top and continue to come towards me, crap! A small commuter aircraft, I might have flashed them. Probably did, they flew directly over my house on their way past me and at a fairly low altitude. Shyt! Don't aim your lasers low to the horizon, aircraft can be so far away you can't see them, but close enough to get flashed by your laser.
 
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CurtisOliver

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Yes, even experienced laserists have to be careful when shining lasers into sky. Like Alaskan, you never know. To make things worse, you will immediately be classed as one of those fools mentioned by OP. It seems that the authorities are also looking for an excuse to bring down heavier laws on laser pointers/portables.
Common sense is not a sense at all, nor does it seems to be a natural instinct. If it is it is a poor one by the looks of society. We have to learn it as a kid these days, and most are still learning or not at all. :p
 
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