Pilots condemn ditching of proposed tougher UK laws for laser attacks

Airline pilots have expressed anger after a planned crackdown on people who shine lasers at aircraft was dropped by the govt. In February the Department for Transport announced its intention to introduce legislation meaning people who did so could face tougher penalties including jail. It is already an offence to endanger aircraft by shining lasers at pilots, and offenders can be fined. But police have to prove a person endangered the aircraft when committing the offence of shining a laser. Under the proposed plans to bolster the law, police would have had to prove only the offence of shining the laser. Last year 1,258 laser attacks were reported on aircraft in the UK, down from 1,439 in 2015, Balpa said it was infuriating to see the changes that the airline pilots’ union had hoped for be ditched. <br/>