BOSTON (WHDH) - The FAA will investigate after a helicopter crew reported being hit by a laser while landing at a hospital in Boston Thursday night, officials said.
The FAA in a statement said the crew reported the incident around 8 p.m. No one was injured, according to the FAA, and local authorities were notified.
The Coast Guard said the helicopter crew was doing training drills.
This, though, came hours after the FAA said two JetBlue flight crews reported being illuminated by a laser around 5:40 a.m. Thursday near Boston.
As with the incident Thursday night, the FAA said no one was hurt in the early-morning laser strikes.
Later speaking with 7NEWS, aviation expert and former Massport Director Tom Kinton said incidents involving lasers and aircraft “(are) happening way too often.”
“We’re talking about, at the very least, temporary blindness – like a flash bulb going off – then it takes several seconds to regain your sight and that’s not good at a critical phase of flight as this was,” Kinton said, discussing dangers lasers pose to pilots.
The FAA in its statement Thursday night said it is “committed to maintaining the safest air transportation system in the world.”
“Aiming a laser at an aircraft is a serious safety hazard that puts everyone on the plane and on the ground below at risk,” the administration said. “It is also a violation of federal law.”
Despite laws and penalties against people who shine lasers at aircraft, there were 9,500 reported laser strikes in 2022.
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