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Laser pointer endangers helicopter pilot in Fairfax County
Fairfax County police are warning residents after a close call involving their helicopter and a laser pointer. The chopper pilot says the laser momentarily blinded him. FOX 5’s Josh Rosenthal is in McLean with more on what happened, and just how common this type of thing is.
WASHINGTON - Fairfax Police were able to capture video of an illegal laser pointer aimed at a police helicopter.
It happened on March 11 in Lorton at about 11:25 p.m. A helicopter, called "Fairfax 1," was being used to assist Virginia State police in a search for a suspect who had run away from troopers.
Officials said a 25-year-old man pointed the laser at the helicopter from a balcony apartment located in the 9200 block of Ashland Woods Lane.
"The entire cockpit turned into, for lack of a better term, a green disco ball," explained Andrew Edgerton, the chief pilot for the Fairfax County Police Helicopter Division. "I was momentarily blinded, and it was very disorienting."
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Police helicopter captures video of illegal laser pointer
"Pointing a laser at an aircraft is illegal and also a very bad idea when that aircraft is a police helicopter," said Fairfax Police in a Facebook post. Police were able to identify where the laser was originating from and made an arrest.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, laser strikes actually happen a lot — 6,852 laser strikes were reported to the agency in 2020, followed by 9,723 in 2021, and 9,457 in 2022.
Andrew Edgerton
During the Fairfax County incident, Edgerton said his crew had to fly away from the laser and temporarily stop searching for the initial Virginia State police suspect. Police said the 25-year-old man with the laser was ultimately arrested.
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"It’s a pretty serious thing that people are doing when you’re shining a laser and distracting pilots from their job," Edgerton said, adding that he’s been the victim of laser strikes while flying several times before.
Police arrested the 25-year-old man for interference with the operation of an aircraft. It is a federal crime to point a laser at an aircraft, as it poses a safety threat to pilots, according to the FAA.