What is the penalty for illuminating an aircraft with lasers or bright lights?
Within the U.S., there is no specific law covering laser or bright light illumination. There are general laws against interference with an aircraft. A suspect in the late 2004 incidents, David Banach, was charged with “interfering with the operator of a mass transportation vehicle”. This is a felony under the Patriot Act. The penalty is up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.. (Banach was also charged with making false statements to the FBI, potentially another five years and another $250,000.) There may be similar local and state laws of a general nature, prohibiting unsafe acts. Some of these have been used in the past in isolated laser incidents. Because these incidents are so few and far between, at this time (early 2005) there does not appear to be the need for more specific laws. Are there no federal or state penalties? As mentioned earlier, three laser uses — medical, construction and entertainment — are regulated at the federal level by a division of the FDA. These user
