A LASER beam shone at two aircraft flying over Woodley, potentially endangering hundreds of lives, is being investigated by police and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
At 10.17pm on Monday (15) a laser ‘strike’, coming from an area south of Woodley near to the motorway, was reported from National Air traffic control at Swanwick, near Southampton. Two aircraft were involved in the laser strike.
The attack came hours after a Virgin Atlantic flight bound for New York was forced to return to Heathrow Airport after a laser beam was pointed at the plane on Sunday night.
Virgin confirmed Flight VS025 to JFK – which was carrying 252 passengers and 15 crew – had been abandoned as a “precautionary measure” after the plane’s First Officer reported “feeling unwell”, following the incident.
A spokesperson for Virgin Atlantic USA said: “The safety of our crew and customers is our top priority and we apologise for any inconvenience to those onboard.”
The airline said it is working with authorities to identify the source of the incident, which occurred several miles west of Heathrow.
Laser strikes are becoming more and more frequent in the UK, with more than 8,990 incidents reported to the CAA between 2009 and June 2015.
In 2010 a law was introduced to stop laser beams being shone at aircraft and offenders can be charged with endangering the safety of aircraft by “shining a light at an aircraft in flight so as to dazzle or distract the pilot”. Offenders could be fined or even imprisoned if their actions are believed to have endangered the aircraft.
More on this as we get it.