A Utah National Guard flight crew followed a car whose occupants reportedly were shining a laser at them as the soldiers trained Monday night in the mountains near Tooele.
The UH-72 Lakota helicopter was flying near Eagle Mountain when its crew noticed someone was flashing it with a laser, said Evan Ahlborn, a National Guard chief warrant officer three.
When someone shines a laser at an aircraft — which has happened to Utah National Guard aircraft three or four times over the past few years — it can temporarily blind the pilot, Ahlborn said.
The Federal Aviation Administration received 3,894 reports of laser incidents in 2014, down from 3,960 the year before, according to the most recent available data. Reports have been trending upward since 2005, the administration said in 2011, when it first imposed a civil penalty for shining lasers on aircraft.
When the pilots are wearing night vision goggles, as they were Monday, the lasers are amplified. For pilots caught in the laser’s path, it’s an “extremely blinding and dazzling event,” Ahlborn said.
The crew reported the incident to a 911 dispatcher and followed the vehicle into Tooele, where city police pulled it over. Utah Highway Patrol troopers also responded and cited the driver for criminal mischief, Lt. Todd Royce said.
Troopers turned the case over to the Federal Aviation Administration. If found guilty, the perpetrators could face a civil penalty of up to $25,000, in addition to up to 5 years of prison time and a fine.