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☖ Forums → Discussion Forum → Terrorists and laser pointers?
12
Terrorists and laser pointers?
2004-12-10, 4:07 PM #1
[url]www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/09/terrorist.laser.ap/index.html[/url]

Hmm. *shrug*
SnailIracing:n(500tpostshpereline)pants
-----------------------------@%
2004-12-10, 4:09 PM #2
Why dont they get stronger lasers to cut the planes in 2
nope.
2004-12-10, 4:11 PM #3
Too hard to conceal?
Life is beautiful.
2004-12-10, 5:18 PM #4
It's cost effective and doesn't take a lot of planning.
Pissed Off?
2004-12-10, 5:46 PM #5
that's pretty original I must say
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2004-12-10, 5:58 PM #6
Can't lasers show up in infared? So it probably wouln't be hard to spot them, just keep watch like that at the end of fields.

Actually they would have to be extrmeley lucky to even be able to get it pointed right into the pilot's eyes considering the cockpit window angles.
"We came, we saw, we conquered, we...woke up!"
2004-12-10, 6:03 PM #7
SHARKS WITH FRICKEN LASER BEAMS
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DARWIN WILL PREVENT THE DOWNFALL OF OUR RACE. - Rob
Free Jin!
2004-12-10, 6:04 PM #8
lol
2004-12-10, 6:14 PM #9
I don't understand, doesn't the cockpit have a DOOR? I have yet to be on a plane in which I've actually SEEN the pilot, let alone SOMEHOW manage to shine a weak laser pointer in their eyes, which shouldn't be facing the passengers.
Got a permanent feather in my cap;
Got a stretch to my stride;
a stroll to my step;
2004-12-10, 6:17 PM #10
Another thing that makes very little sense... planes fly at 30 000 feet they are gonna hold the laser in their eyes for that long for the plane to drop???
2004-12-10, 6:21 PM #11
Sol, the terrorists aren't planning on being in the plane.
"Well ain't that a merry jelly." - FastGamerr

"You can actually see the waves of me not caring in the air." - fishstickz
2004-12-10, 6:22 PM #12
... they do as they are going into the runway
they do make some large lasers these days
Holy soap opera Batman. - FGR
DARWIN WILL PREVENT THE DOWNFALL OF OUR RACE. - Rob
Free Jin!
2004-12-10, 6:23 PM #13
They'd do it from the ground while the plane is landing.
Pissed Off?
2004-12-10, 6:26 PM #14
My respect for the Dept. of Homeland Security just dropped a few notches. That's the most absurd, ridiculous thing I have ever heard from a government agency.
"it is time to get a credit card to complete my financial independance" — Tibby, Aug. 2009
2004-12-10, 6:27 PM #15
Bah, I thought of that a long time ago... But it would be quite hard to keep a laser aimed at someone's eyes while they are landing a plane. In any case, there are industrial cutting lasers that you can buy that are up to several kilowatts of power. That could do more damage than merely blinding someone.
Stuff
2004-12-10, 6:29 PM #16
If he couldn't see why wouldn't he just pull up on the stick until the plane cleared the laser?
2004-12-10, 6:33 PM #17
Because when you're on the descent to land, you've typically slowed down. Pulling up would probably cause a stall.
2004-12-10, 6:34 PM #18
Holy crap! I was sitting near a terrorist when I went to the movies the other day :eek:

Actually he was really just more of an *******...
The Massassi-Map
There is no spoon.
2004-12-10, 6:43 PM #19
Any competent pilot would be able to get the throttle up and fly level until they had enough speed to climb.
"it is time to get a credit card to complete my financial independance" — Tibby, Aug. 2009
2004-12-10, 6:45 PM #20
Yeah I mean they're hands are right on all the controls they could do it blind needbe... just throttle up and pull up.
2004-12-10, 6:54 PM #21
It's not like they'd be doing it at a time that would allow them time to pull up.
2004-12-10, 6:54 PM #22
Quote:
Originally posted by MechWarrior
Yeah I mean they're hands are right on all the controls they could do it blind needbe... just throttle up and pull up.


Yeah it works something like this: Oh damn I'm blind now. It's a good thing i've still got my wits about me so I can land this plane.
>>untie shoes
2004-12-10, 7:03 PM #23
Well maybe they should start trainning them for situations like that or if it's gonna be that big of a problem replace civilian pilots with military trainned ones that are better trainned to handle situations out of the ordinary.
2004-12-10, 7:07 PM #24
Yes, because a military person is going to have the miraculous SUPER HUMAN POWER to fix thing...
2004-12-10, 7:14 PM #25
Aren't there lasers on thinkgeek that can shoot up to 3000 meters? :)
"Jayne, this is something the Captain has to do for himself"

"N-No it's not!"

"Oh."
2004-12-10, 7:19 PM #26
Omg, laser pointers are now weapons of mass destruction! AHHHHHH!
Democracy: rule by the stupid
2004-12-10, 7:35 PM #27
The think geek ones come in green and a green-red combo, links at bottom... I was gonna buy one like yesterday!

hehehe, Now I'm buying one!! Get on the Homeland Security National Threat list!!!
Woo!!

Green- Red laser :http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/lights/657a/

Green laser:http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/lights/5a47/
Kenya, Now with lions and tigers.
2004-12-11, 2:43 AM #28
Quote:
Originally posted by Freelancer
My respect for the Dept. of Homeland Security just dropped a few notches. That's the most absurd, ridiculous thing I have ever heard from a government agency.


At least the US military, and probably other armed forces around the world have studied this same thing for their own uses. It's not yet feasible to produce laser guns capable of causing damage to the plane, but enemy fighter pilots could be blinded. I guess nobody had just though terrorists would use this method - before now. There's nothing "absurd" or "ridiculous" here. There is a reason why even weak laser devices have that warning label.
Frozen in the past by ICARUS
2004-12-11, 4:50 AM #29
I seem to recall reading about several instances where lasers and pilots' eyemeats have been isntigated as the potential cause of crashes. I don't recall any details, but i think there were some artiicles about such things a few months ago.

So it's not just entirely theoretical or something. I don't think those instances were specifically tagged as possible terrorism, but ib don't recall enough about them to be sure.

[and had i read the article before posting, i would have seen that it makes some reference to those incidents]
Also, I can kill you with my brain.
2004-12-11, 9:40 AM #30
Quote:
Originally posted by Dormouse
I seem to recall reading about several instances where lasers and pilots' eyemeats have been isntigated as the potential cause of crashes. I don't recall any details, but i think there were some artiicles about such things a few months ago.


Small planes?
SnailIracing:n(500tpostshpereline)pants
-----------------------------@%
2004-12-11, 10:33 AM #31
guys, if most of you actually had READ the article instead of just being anti-US "ooooh, the U.S. is just making up threats" , you would have seen that the very reason they are worried about this threat is because it has just occured a few times aleady recently and they don't know who is doing it, so they are naturally worried. And Mechwarrior, it happened while the planes were landing, not at 30,000 feet...
The top ten times in history when using the "F" word
was appropriate.....
10) "What the *&%# was that?" -Mayor of Hiroshima - August 1945
9) "Where did all these *&%#ing Indians come from?" - Custer 1877
8) "Any *&%#ing idiot could understand that." - Einstein 1938
7) "It does SO *&%#ing look like her!" - Picasso 1926
6) "How the *&%# did you work that out?" - Pythagoras 126 BC
5) "You want WHAT on the *&%#ing ceiling?" - Michelangelo 1566
4) "I don't suppose it's gonna *&%#ing rain." - Joan of Arc 1434
3) "Scattered *&%#ing showers...my a$$!" - Noah 2114 BC
2) "I need this parade like I need a *&%#ing hole in my head!" -
JFK 1963
1) "Aw c'mon, who the *&%# is going to find out?" - Bill Clinton 1997
2004-12-11, 11:22 AM #32
Ironic that a little laser pointer can cause so much damage....
2004-12-11, 12:12 PM #33
Quote:
Originally posted by MechWarrior
Yeah I mean they're hands are right on all the controls they could do it blind needbe... just throttle up and pull up.


Holy hell you're ignorant. If you're off by even a little bit in landing a plane, you die, and so does everyone else in the plane. Why? You're going to topple, and crash into the ground at nie ~150 mph, with a jet that weighs several hundred tons.

Just stop trying.
D E A T H
2004-12-11, 12:14 PM #34
He's not talking about landing while blind, he's talking about throttling up and pulling up a little bit. It really doesn't require a whole lot of finesse.
"it is time to get a credit card to complete my financial independance" — Tibby, Aug. 2009
2004-12-11, 12:20 PM #35
Perhaps, but that doesn't mean that the immediate area would be free of obstructions of any kind.
Pissed Off?
2004-12-11, 12:23 PM #36
Quote:
Originally posted by Avenger
Perhaps, but that doesn't mean that the immediate area would be free of obstructions of any kind.


Not just stationary ones either. Planes at that size aren't very maneuverable and there are always planes coming in and going out.
D E A T H
2004-12-11, 12:57 PM #37
Indeed. Randomly throwing a plane like that in some other direction might cause some trouble on the plane too.
Pissed Off?
2004-12-11, 1:06 PM #38
If I'm a pilot with a laser in my eye, I cock my head to either side. BAM! Terrorists defeated.
Bassoon, n. A brazen instrument into which a fool blows out his brains.
2004-12-11, 1:23 PM #39
Quote:
Originally posted by Emon
If I'm a pilot with a laser in my eye, I cock my head to either side. BAM! Terrorists defeated.


<3
D E A T H
2004-12-11, 1:37 PM #40
Quote:
Originally posted by Freelancer
My respect for the Dept. of Homeland Security just dropped a few notches. That's the most absurd, ridiculous thing I have ever heard from a government agency.


Almost as absurd as nineteen people with pilot training simultaneously hijacking four airliners with boxcutters and flying them into America's most recognizable buildings.
A desperate disease requires a dangerous remedy.

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art
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