"Laser-pointer on runway gets 2 years of probation"

Saturday, February 18, 2006

Laser-pointer on runway gets 2 years of probation
The Associated Press


NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - A man who pleaded guilty to shining a laser pointer at a
landing airplane, temporarily hampering the pilots' vision, was sentenced
Friday to two years of probation.

The plane had six passengers and was about 3,000 feet above the ground when
the laser beam hit the cockpit window on Dec. 29, 2004.

The flight crew said a green beam struck the window three times, causing
both pilots to briefly lose night vision. The plane, flying from Boca Raton,
Fla., to New Jersey's Teterboro Airport, landed safely.

David W. Banach, 39, of Parsippany pleaded guilty in November to violating a
section of the Patriot Act involving interfering with pilots of a passenger
aircraft.


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