Sept. 24 (UPI) — The Federal Aviation Administration says it is investigating three incidents in which aircraft over Boston were targeted by a green laser, including a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter.
The helicopter, an MH-60 Jayhawk, was hit by the laser at 8 p.m. Thursday while its crew was conducting a training flight at Massachusetts General Hospital, the Coast Guard told WCVB-TV.
“We just got lazed by an apartment building near Mass General,” the pilot said while radioing the incident in. “It was between TD Garden and Mass General … off the off-ramp in that location.”
Earlier in the day, two JetBlue planes were targeted just after 5:30 a.m., the FAA told the Boston Globe.
The pilots for those planes, Flights 494 and 972, also told authorities they had been illuminated by a green laser before landing at Logan International Airport.
According to WCVB, both JetBlue pilots flew a similar path. No injuries were reported in any of the three incidents.
“Aiming a laser at an aircraft is a serious safety hazard that puts everyone on the plane and on the ground below at risk,” the FAA said. “It is also a violation of federal law.”
Pilots reported 9,457 laser incidents to the FAA in 2022, the agency said in a statement earlier this year. At least 278 pilots have reported injuries from laser strikes since 2010.
People who shine lasers at aircraft can be fined up to $11,000 per incident and up to $30,800 for multiple violations.
