Article paru dans le Liverpool Echo aujourd'hui
La bętise humaine n'a pas de limite ! Comment peut-on faire des choses pareilles ?
Liverpool John Lennon Airport pilots in laser jet disaster fearsAug 4 2009 by Luke Traynor, Liverpool Echo
YOBS shining dangerous lasers into the eyes of pilots approaching Liverpool Airport could cause a major disaster, police warned today.
Invasive green lights were shone into the cockpits of several planes landing at John Lennon Airport in recent weeks.
Today, police and aviation experts said the laser lights could cause blindness and prompt a serious airline tragedy.
Officers are hunting offenders who are stationing themselves along the Liverpool flight path armed with the potentially lethal contraptions.
Just after midnight on Friday, a pilot was distracted by a green light shone into the cockpit at 2,500ft from the Chester or Broughton area.
A day earlier, a green light flashed into the cockpit of a plane from Ibiza, descending at 3,000ft, as it performed a turn near Runcorn marshes.
Another incident occurred a week last Monday, at 11.20pm, when an inbound plane from Milan at 2,000ft had a green light directed towards it from the Frodsham area.
In all three cases, the planes landed safely and Cheshire Police are certain the same group is responsible for each of the incidents.
Inspector Phil Hodgson told the ECHO it was likely the offenders were wreaking their havoc on elevated ground, away from wooded areas.
He said: “They will be on open expanses of land. I would urge anybody who knows somebody committing this type of offence to come forward and help us catch them.
“This type of offence has happened in other parts of the country, but it’s the first time for Cheshire and planes coming into Liverpool.
“The lasers are fairly common in teaching, but in these circumstances the potential serious consequences are too bad to contemplate.”
The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) today condemned the yobs’ behaviour and said they could expect custodial sentences if caught.
They revealed how the lasers, mostly imported from China, were available to buy for as little as Ł10 in corner shops or on the internet.
New technology is set to be introduced by Liverpool Airport that can pinpoint in seconds the exact location of the laser perpetrator.
A BALPA spokesman said: “These incidents are extremely dangerous for passengers and crew and people are very wrong if they think playing with them is some kind of fun. There have been incidents in America where pilots have been permanently blinded.”
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