Three instances in three months: issues of laser beam interferences for pilots continue to persist at Chennai airport

In the last three months, there have been three instances of laser beam interferences affecting the pilots as they are maneuvering the flight to land at Chennai airport.

Recently, the authorities from the Department of Environment and Climate Change has written to the Home Department. They have requested the latter to take up the issue with the Tamil Nadu Director General of Police to resolve the issue.

The letter highlighted that pilots have reported some incidents of laser beam interference at lower altitudes and how it may cause temporary blindness to them; it also said, a pilot may lose control and it could impact safe aircraft operations.

International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has stated in one of the documents that such laser light’s dazzling effect can be a significant distraction for the pilot, especially during take off or landing.

Officials of Airports Authority of India (AAI) said, it has become pretty common for event management agencies to use laser lights off late. “But when some of these lights hit the cockpit during an crucial phase of a flight, it may turn into a dangerous situation. Only for a little more than a year now, this issue has been recurring at the airport. When compared to last year, the number of incidents has come down now but the problem continues to persist,” a source said.

AAI has raised the issue during the Airfield Environment Management Committee meeting as well and carried out an awareness campaign too early this year.

This issue has been flagged in some of the other airports like Mysuru and Kolkata as well.

In May this year, Directorate of Aviation Safety, AAI had also issued an advisory circular (AC) to airport operation authorities highlighting the need to report every such incident and for taking it up with the local authorities. “This AC is issued in serious response to the significant increase in cases of unauthorised laser illumination of aircraft incidents, as well as the proliferation and increased sophistication of laser devices available to general public and other parties.”