You’ve probably read one or more stories recently about pilots of commercial airlines reporting that lasers have been aimed at their cockpits:
NEWARK, Dec. 30 - In the past week, laser beams of unknown origins have been shined into the cockpits of seven airplanes as they were about to land at various airports around the country, including Teterboro Airport. Federal officials announced on Thursday that they were initiating a major investigation to determine whether the episodes were related to terrorism. (NY Times 12/31/04)
And this isn’t the first time that this has happened:
A pilot flying a Delta Air Lines jet was injured by a laser that illuminated the cockpit of the aircraft as it approached Salt Lake City International Airport last week, U.S. officials said. (WA Times: 9/29/04)
This memo from 12/10/04 sent by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security warns of the threat:
“Although lasers are not proven methods of attack like improvised explosive devices and hijackings, terrorist groups overseas have expressed interest in using these devices against human sight,” the memo said.
“In certain circumstances, if laser weapons adversely affect the eyesight of both pilot and co-pilot during a non-instrument approach, there is a risk of airliner crash,” the agencies said. (CNN.com: 12/10/04)
And if that’s not worrisome enough, the real problem may NOT be an attempt to blind airline pilots. After all, in order to crash the plane using that method, the terrorists would have to hit both the pilot and co-pilot; not an easy thing to do when you have to aim a laser at a descending airplane going 300 mph.
What then is going on?
According to a study published by the Federal Aviation Administration in June, there have been hundreds of laser-in-the-cockpit incidents, many pre-dating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Clearly, some of these incidents have been either benign (laser light shows) or simple mischievous pranks. After all, lasers are all over the place; from laser gunsights to the kind of pointing lasers used by carpenters and lecturers.
But the recent spate of incidents could presage some kind of terrorist attack on commercial aviation using relatively cheap and readily available hand-held anti-aircraft missiles. What are they using the lasers for?
Lasers are not being used to blind pilots. Lasers are being used to measure straight line distance from the ground to an aircraft at its most vulnerable state - landing. An aircraft on takeoff would be a more difficult target - maximum power and maximum climb. But a landing ship slows down to a speed just short of a stall and follows a prescribed path of flight .
The information regarding an aircraftÂ’s peak vulnerability would be invaluable. Documenting landing approaches and and straight line distances would be highly useful in target acquisition. That information is critical regarding available weapons systems.
The above is a post from the Daily Brief one of the best milblogs around. (HT Instapundit) Sgt. Stryker points out that a laser range finder for a rifle or any of the other cheap lasers would be unable to penetrate the cockpit of an airplane flying at 8,000 feet but that other commercially available lasers costing in the range of $7,000 to $10,000 would be more than adequate to do the job.
And what job would that be?
In late December of 2004, it was revealed that Los Angeles Airport (LAX) was increasing its preparedness for a shoulder fired missile attack. John Miller, head of the LAPD Counterterrorism Bureau, explained that about 20,000 shoulder-fired missiles were currently on the black market. The black market prices range from $5,000 to $30,000, presumably based on the vintage of the weapon.
We have seen how cost conscious terrorists tend to be. Why waste an investment of $5000 to $30,000 when it turns out your target is beyond the range of your black market missile.
The laser activity is more than likely a target acquisition exercise.
And people are taking notes.
Here’s the nightmare scenario: Several teams of terrorists positioned at let’s say 6 major airports around the country armed with shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles and using lasers to get an exact range from weapon to target fire off their missiles, all within less than 10 minutes of each other and bring down 6 jetliners carrying an average of 250 passengers. You not only have 1500 dead passengers you have scores, maybe hundreds of dead on the ground as the planes crash into suburban neighborhoods that surround most major airports and start huge fires initiating widespread panic.
How quickly will the FAA respond? Could the terrorists get off another missile…and another? How many teams of terrorists? In one awful 30 minute period, the terrorists could kill thousands.
We know that Al Queda is capable of this kind of coordinated attack. They did it with our embassies in Africa when both consulates were hit within 15 minutes of each other. The question is whether or not they’ve been able to infiltrate such a large number of operatives into the US. Given the porousness of our borders, it’s a distinct possibility.
Such an attack could virtually end commercial aviation as we know it. Millions of jobs would be lost in the travel and tourism industry. Thousands of businesses large and small would go under. It would be an economic catastrophe of the first order as many nations would refuse to fly commercial airlines into US airspace.
Let’s hope that these incidents are indeed only pranks or accidents. To contemplate otherwise is to look into the abyss of an economic and human catastrophe that would dwarf September 11, 2001.
