Laser pointers endanger pilots, hinder rescues

A green laser pointer directed at a Coast Guard helicopter temporarily blinded the pilot and crew and forced them to land while they were searching for the source of three orange flares spotted off Garden City Beach, S.C. The popular laser pointers, sold nationwide as toys at beachfront shops and online, have become a chronic problem for aerial rescue crews. The Aug. cheap soccer cleats 8 Garden City Beach incident was the third time in three weeks that a Coast Guard search was hindered because of green lasers in the South Carolina coastal region known as the Grand Strand, which stretches from Little River to Georgetown. The air crew had just arrived at the search area when the laser hit the aircraft about 1:45 a.m., forcing the crew to land. One crewmember received direct laser exposure and was not cleared to fly again until later that day. A boat crew from Station Georgetown was launched to take over the search, but because of the distance, it didn’t arrive at the search area until two hours after the helicopter had left. The source of the flares was not found. When a laser is directed into an aircraft, cleats for soccer the crew is required to stop searching immediately and land. The crew is grounded until each person has an eye exam and is cleared by a flight surgeon. The process can take as long as 24 hours, depending on when and where the incident occurred. Additionally, there typically is a two- to three-hour delay to get a new helicopter and crew to the scene to resume a search, the Coast Guard says. “We’ve been very fortunate that the green laser incidents haven’t yet resulted in tragedy,” Cmdr. Gregory Fuller, commanding officer of Air Station Savannah, Ga., said in a statement. “But every time we send our air crews to the Grand Strand we’re telling them to fly into the equivalent of a storm, where it’s almost guaranteed they’ll be hit. We’re simply asking the public to stop putting Coast Guard men and women in senseless and unnecessary danger. ” The Horry County Council in South Carolina is expected to consider a ban on certain types of lasers because of the incidents, according to a report by The Republic newspaper. Twice in a two-week period, helicopters conducting rescue missions along South Carolina’s northern coast had to land because of the lasers, The Republic reports, and the county’s public safety director says there have been 70 green laser hits on aircraft landing at Myrtle Beach International Airport since May.