3108: Laser Danger
| Laser Danger |
 Title text: To combat the threat, many airlines are installing wing-mounted spray bottles. |
Explanation[edit]
Shining a laser at a plane is a federal crime in the US, and similarly forbidden in many other countries. A sufficiently powerful laser can disorient, distract and/or blind the pilot operating the aircraft. This can prove particularly dangerous to the safety of the aircraft and its occupants during take-off and landing, when planes are likely to have altitudes and orientations particularly susceptible to laser interference, and are phases that are already hazardous periods of flight. This 'use' of lasers was previously discussed in 3030: Lasering Incidents and 2481: 1991 and 2021.
Megan claims that there's another reason why lasering a plane is illegal: to avoid provoking cats into leaping at them. Cats are known to chase and jump onto the dots created by laser pointers. Cats also prey on birds, with estimates of 1.3 to 3.7 billion birds killed each year. Of course, a cat would be unable to jump to the height of a flying plane.[citation needed] If the cat were able to reach the plane, it would find itself hilariously outsized, though colliding with the plane mid-air could cause damage akin to a bird strike (e.g. shattered windshield or engine failure). The cat in the image is similar in size to the plane and thus could do significant damage. It is unclear whether the cat is unusually large or the plane is a model aircraft. A similar joke was used in the title text of 1463: Altitude.
The laser is shown in green, which have become more popular in recent decades as they offer the highest power for the lowest cost and are most frequently the type used in aviation-related incidents.
The title text alludes to the fact that many cats do not like getting wet, and one of the methods people use to discourage them from a place or activity that is unwanted is to use spray bottles to wet their fur. The spray bottle might also emit a hissing sound, which cats associate with other cats threatening them. The "wing-mounted spray bottles" on aircraft could be a reference to fuel dump tubes, which spray out fuel to lighten the aircraft, commonly used before emergency landings (especially soon after take-off, when a nearly full load of fuel is now more trouble than it should have been). To combat actual physical threats to aircraft in real life, El Al (the Israeli national airline) and government aircraft used by heads of state often have various countermeasures installed.
Transcript[edit]
- Megan: Shining laser pointers at planes is a federal crime. It's incredibly dangerous.
- Cueball: Oh, because it can blind the pilot?
- Megan: That's one reason...
- [A plane is shown, with a green laser pointer aimed at it.]
- [The laser disappears. A cat, approximately the same size as the plane, pounces on the plane and sends it tumbling.]
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I wonder how long this was in the chamber. He must’ve been waiting for the first week of the year we didn’t have an air disaster. 172.118.150.213 05:08, 28 June 2025 (UTC)
The statute is 18 U.S. Code § 39A - Aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft 206.174.20.11 (talk) 05:21, 28 June 2025 (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
- It was originally written almost as if it was a US only thing, for some weird reason. It isn't. And I'm sure that, even if not explicitly existing as a "don't shine lasers at aircraft" law in any given jurisdiction, you could be prosecuted for the local version of generic "reckless endangerment", "assault" or some variation of manslaughter/murder (should the worse happen). At the very least, the "Being Bloody Stupid Act of 1581", or local equivalent, complete with 'disproportionate' retaliation by the authorities in places that are perhaps a bit short of modern legal processes but very big on 'law'-enforcement in more general (possibly militia/lynch-mob led) terms. 82.132.247.41 09:25, 28 June 2025 (UTC)
Poor cats, jumping into chemtrail-spray can't be good for them 😉 89.1.185.158 06:03, 28 June 2025 (UTC)
- Chem Tails: a cute animated film about kittens fighting a government mind control conspiracy. 73.192.144.66 (talk) 13:43, 28 June 2025 (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
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