Note: This presentation has been updated since the January version was presented at the SAE G10 meeting in Melbourne, FL. Updates as of February include: Revised numbers based on FAA’s February revisions to the Laser Incident database, and based on FAA’s clarification of what it classifies as an “incident” (e.g., anytime an aircraft reports seeing or being illuminated by a laser) Revised numbers based on FAA’s February revisions to the Laser Incident database, and based on FAA’s clarification of what it classifies as an “incident” (e.g., anytime an aircraft reports seeing or being illuminated by a laser) An added table on aircraft altitudes An added table on aircraft altitudes A description about what types of lasers and misuse are in the FAA database A description about what types of lasers and misuse are in the FAA database Two slides about legality of selling & owning lasers Two slides about legality of selling & owning lasers Minor corrections Minor corrections

Review of FAA Laser Incidents in 2011 Patrick Murphy International Laser Display Association LaserPointerSafety.com January 31, 2012 Updated version 04, Feb. 15, 2012

Executive Summary 2011: 3,591 laser incidents Compare to 2010: 2,836 incidents 2004 through 2011: 10,000+ total laser incidents reported to FAA

Number of laser incidents per year

2011: Executive Summary 55 incidents (1.5%) causing eye or body effects Afterimages, eye discomfort, blurry vision, headache No incidents causing eye injuries (defined as retinal lesions or retinal damage) in 2011 No permanent eye injuries 1990-present as far as can be determined

2011: 12 multiple-aircraft incidents 1 incident: 5 aircraft landing at PHL, Feb incident: 3 aircraft 15 miles from Phoenix Sky Harbor, Feb incidents: Each involving 2 aircraft

About the FAA Database

What is an FAA “laser incident”? Anytime a pilot sees a laser beam May be outside the aircraft (not illegal) May be aimed toward the aircraft (illegal) May enter the cockpit (e.g., be on or through the windscreen) May enter the eyes of a pilot or crewmember

What data does FAA collect? Date, time Aircraft ID Number of aircraft seeing laser Aircraft type Altitude Nearest airport and city “Injuries reported?” Comments Data source Other (security - limited release)

Data that is hard to determine Size (e.g., number of potential passengers) Type of aircraft (e.g., fixed vs. rotary wing) Incident severity Eye effects vs. “injuries” Phase of flight: landing, takeoff, cruise, hover Location: Airport-related, or police-related (e.g, in a city)

Types of lasers and incidents

Types of laser incidents Almost all incidents appear to involve commercially available laser pointers and handheld lasers, being misused by the general public There are a very few cases of pilots reporting beams outside the cockpit (non-illumination incidents) that were from laser light shows There were no known or suspected incidents from other outdoor uses This includes astronomical observations, satellite communications, LIDAR, and other scientific and industrial applications

Types of lasers All lasers have visible beams ( nanometer wavelength) Pilots could not see, and thus could not report, lasers with non-visible beams (infrared, ultraviolet) These are not expected to be aimed at aircraft by the general public All lasers appear to be continuous wave No pulsed lasers reported or suspected

Laser powers involved (1 of 2) It is possible to use specialized detectors to measure the beam power over a certain area (irradiance) at the aircraft However, it is not possible from the air to determine the source power of the laser

Laser powers involved (2 of 2) Based on lasers seized from persons arrested, laser powers range from a few milliwatts to 1000 milliwatts (1 watt) Typically, the powers most used in aiming incidents are roughly in the range of 5 to 200 mW

Note on laser legality (1 of 2) In the U.S., manufacturers cannot legally sell lasers above 5 mW as “pointers” or for pointing applications It is legal to sell a laser 5 mW or more if the laser conforms to U.S. FDA requirements and if it is not sold as a “pointer” or for pointing applications If a laser is 5 mW or more, and is sold as a “pointer” or for pointing applications, this is illegal from the seller’s standpoint. It is not illegal from the buyer’s standpont to buy or own such a laser

Note on laser legality (2 of 2) Under U.S. federal law, it is not illegal to own or use a laser of any power Some states and localities may have their own restrictions on laser ownership and/or usage Misuse can be prosecuted under various statutes such as assault, interference with aircraft, and new (Feb. 2012) law against aiming at aircraft

Incident Severity

2011: 3,591 laser incidents 2,621: Laser did not enter cockpit 970: Laser entered cockpit 181: Laser tracked aircraft 55: Laser caused eye effects 0: Laser caused eye injuries 73% 27% 5.1% 1.5% Based on Rockwell Laser Industries study in mid-2011; data extrapolated to full year

Trends in Number of Incidents Per Day

Number of laser incidents per day

2011: Laser incidents day-by-day

: Incidents day-by-day

: Overall trend is linear

Yearly Trends in Rate of Increase

Number of laser incidents per year

Laser incidents required to be reported to FAA beginning Jan. 19, 2005

Rate of increase per year 36% 66% 49% 61% 86% 27% Laser incidents required to be reported to FAA beginning Jan. 19, 2005

59% decline rate of increase

Fewer incidents in 2012? If 2012’s rate of increase goes down as much as 2011 (59% decline), there would be a decrease in laser incidents for the first time From 3,591 incidents in 2011 to 2,836 incidents projected for 2012

Trends in rate of increase 1: Start with 5 years of data Laser Incidents Reported Daily to FAA

Trends in rate of increase 2: Shift data over one year Laser Incidents Reported Daily to FAA

Trends in rate of increase 3: Determine how much incidents have increased Laser Incidents Reported Daily to FAA

Trends in rate of increase 4: Re-plot the data as a percentage

Trends in rate of increase 5. Overall trend shows rate steady, rising, then dropping

Day of the Week

2011 laser incidents - day of the week

Laser Incidents by Altitude

2011 FAA Laser Incidents, Reported by Altitude at Time of Exposure Altitude AGL, thousands of feet

Laser colors

2011 laser colors reported Green: 3,381 (94.2%) Red: 66 (1.8%) White: 48 (1.3%) Other: 39 (1.1%) Blue: 31 (0.9%) Unknown color: 26 (0.7%) 94.2%94.2% 5.8%5.8%

Airports and Locations

Caution: Airports and locations are approximate FAA records the closest airport to an incident location Does not distinguish between an incident in a city or suburb (e.g., police helicopter) that is away from an airport; and... an incident at an airport or on an approach/departure FAA data on cities arbitrarily lumps or separates airports Example: Dallas, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Fort Worth are reported as 3 separate cities. If reported as one city, would be 2nd in U.S. for laser incidents.

2011 laser incidents - top 25 airports

2011 laser incidents - top 25 cities

2011 laser incidents - top 25 states

Eye Effects Reported Note: There were no documented eye injuries (retinal lesions)

Eye effects vs. eye injuries Effects defined as... Watering, afterimages Corneal abrasion (too-vigorous rubbing of the eyes) Shock, headache Injuries defined as... Medically detectable retinal lesion

2011: 55 incidents with eye effects 31: Pain or discomfort in eyes or elsewhere 31: Vision impairment 7: Sought medical attention 1: Grounded temporarily 3: Flight was affected 2 turned over control; 1 had to land Note: Some incidents resulted in multiple effects, so total effects > 55

2011: 31 cases of pain/discomfort

2011: 31 cases of vision impairment

Laser Incident Probabilities

Chance of laser incidents on any given U.S. flight, in one year Seeing a beam: 1 in 14,000 flights Having the beam enter the cockpit window: 1 in 54,000 flights Causing eye or body effects: 1 in 920,000 flights (“one in a million”) Based on FAA ATADS report of 52,522,825 U.S. airport operations, 12/ /2011

Slides Provided by FAA

Slides from FAA

Summary

Summary Laser incidents continue to increase Rate of increase in 2011 (27%) was significantly less than in 2010 (86%) Most sightings are outside the cockpit Laser light enters the cockpit window in 27% of incidents Eye effects in 1.5% of incidents No permanent eye injuries to date

Questions?