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The Government says it may have to consider tougher penalties for laser light attacks on commercial aircraft.
The warning comes after a huge increase in incidents of airline passengers' lives being put at risk by a high-powered laser beam being directed at pilots landing at the country's airports.
Figures released by the Civil Aviation Authority show a more than 300 per cent increase in laser attacks in the past 18 months with Wellington airport the most dangerous.
Transport Safety Minister Harry Duynhoven said yesterday punishment would have to be stronger if the current laws proved an inadequate deterrent.
The laser attacks seemed to be mainly the work of one or two people of low-level intelligence, he told Radio New Zealand.
A 24-year-old man appeared in Wellington District Court on Friday charged with committing criminal nuisance by shining a green laser into the cockpit of a commercial aircraft knowing it would endanger life. He pleaded not guilty.
He allegedly pointed a green laser into the cockpit of a commercial jet with 49 passengers on March 4 as it came into land at Wellington from Christchurch.
Paul Lyons, Air Line Pilots' Association aviation security coordinator, said the attacks were most dangerous at night when pilots prepared for landing by turning down the cockpit lighting.
"The laser illuminates the whole deck. If a pilot is looking in the direction of the laser then they experience lost vision momentarily. If both pilots are looking in that direction, there is the potential loss of control of the whole aircraft."
Laser attacks had been a concern to airlines for almost 10 years, and attacks "seemed to be on the increase", said Mr Lyons, a former commercial pilot.
"There's probably two reasons why. Lasers are more readily available on the internet and, as technology changes, their capability increases."
A Marlborough Sounds man pleaded guilty this month to endangering public safety by aiming a laser beam at Interislander ferries in Tory Channel.
Bernard Westbrook Long was remanded until June 24.
The announcement follows a rash of such attacks,
- NZPA
