N.J. man charged with aiming laser at aircraft

A New Jersey man was charged Tuesday under federal anti-terrorism laws with shining a laser beam at a charter jet flying over his home, temporarily distracting the pilots.

If convicted of anti-terrorism violations, David Banach of Parsippany, N.J., faces up to 25 years in prison and fines of up to $500,000

David Banach, 38, is the first person charged in a rash of recent incidents in which lasers were shined at aircraft around the country. Justice Department officials said they do not suspect terrorism in any of the cases, but said Banach's arrest shows how seriously they take the matter.

"We need to send a clear message to the public that there is no harmless mischief when it comes to airplanes," said Christopher Christie, the U.S. attorney for New Jersey.

Banach made an initial appearance in court Tuesday and was released on $100,000 bond. He was charged with interfering with a flight crew under the USA Patriot Act. He also was charged with lying to federal officers. The charges carry a maximum jail sentence of 25 years.

Unrelated incidents of laser beams hitting planes have been reported in Medford, Ore.; Colorado Springs; Cleveland; Houston and Washington.

Banach's attorney blasted federal officials for what she called an overreaction. "One would think they would want to devote their time and resources to prosecuting real terrorists, not people like my client," Gina Mendola-Longarzo told the Associated Press.

She said her client was playing with his young daughter, using the laser's narrow green beam to point at stars and illuminating trees and neighbor's houses. FBI agents and police swarmed Banach's Parsnippany, N.J., home Friday night after a green laser was pointed at a police helicopter overhead. The helicopter was carrying a charter jet pilot who was attempting to locate the source of a green laser beam that hit his flight on Dec. 29 as it prepared to land at nearby Teterboro Airport.

After being taken to an FBI office and given a lie-detector test, Banach said he had hit the jet with the beam, court documents say. During questioning by the FBI, Banach showed an agent his laser. After the agent switched it on, Banach warned him "not to shine the laser in his eyes because it could blind him," the court documents say.

Lasers have become increasingly cheap and commonplace in recent years. Thousands of inexpensive lasers used for home repair jobs were sold before Christmas, some for as little as $15.

I remember when those lasers went for almost $100 at sharper image a while back.

Now they dispense those things in the kiddie machines in front of supermarkets

looks a little old to play around with that stuff

I can picture this guy drinking Natty's with a bunch of old Pacman fucks in a backyard fooling around with lasers...What a goof..

At wworrk we had this remote control for a projector which had a laser pointer on it. Endless fun, specially in a pitch black gallery.

GOTTA LOVE AMERICA

news said somthing like 25 to life and 500 g fine...

fucking idiot...did you forget your civil rights got repealed.

AMERICA! FUCK YEAH!

Originally posted by society_kills@Jan 5 2005, 07:09 PM

news said somthing like 25 to life and 500 g fine...

 

fucking idiot...did you forget your civil rights got repealed.

Quoted post

Whatever, this guy is a retard. I doubt he'd be laughing when a plane crashed into his house after he blinded the pilot with that stupid thing. People shouldn't fuck around with 3 ton metal objects that fly over people's heads.

This guy needs his ass kicked.

Those things can reach that far??

dude laser pointers dont fucking really effect your eyes i've had many a laser shined directly in my eye socket from inches away and it didn't do shit, let alone do enough to fucking make you crash a plane. i dont see how they could even notice it from that far away or how it even reached that far.

people are fucking pussies.

looking into a laser pointer is like looking at the sun at noon. one time cant make you go blind but doing it over and over will eventually affect you vision.

he's obviously a terrorist i mean look at him...

There is a chance this was not just a green laser pointer. Could have been a Helium-Neon, in which case it was very dangerous to everyone involved. Then, if that was the case, they would have said so, because they're probably too embarassed to admit they arrested some guy who was having fun with his daughter.

justice is served.

the guy was playing with his fucking daughter, you dont need to fine his life away or send him to prisions for it, just tell him not to do it again. im SURE he will listen. i hate when feds will "make an example" out of one person.

kind of like when they started busting people for music file sharing. they busted the 12 year old girl, the grandma, ect...

if the plane crashed it would be a different story, obviously. in that case, yeah throw him in prision.

clear evidence of the evil of the patriot act. the second one is worse.

on top of that, they're just making an example out of him. they're not making an example to terrorists, they're making an example to common citizens fucking around.

i love our government.

I saw something in the news about a red laser beam hitting airplanes and the shit was huge. The laser I mean. And it was red. Not sure if it's the same story but yeah, why would anyone fuck around with planes? I mean sure, fuck around with it but not on planes.

crashing planes makes the baby jesus cry.

A Pilot's perspective, courtesy of Salon.com's Ask the Pilot:

http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2005/0...t118/index.html

Follow-up:

http://www.salon.com/tech/letters/2005/01/...aser/index.html

phew, now i feel safe :rolleyes:

I've felt safe ever since the patriot act was passed. Thank god. I mean Bush.

Homeland Security, stand up!!

Job well done.

Originally posted by ElectricitySucks@Jan 5 2005, 10:01 PM

the guy was playing with his fucking daughter, you dont need to fine his life away or send him to prisions for it, just tell him not to do it again. im SURE he will listen. i hate when feds will "make an example" out of one person.

 

kind of like when they started busting people for music file sharing. they busted the 12 year old girl, the grandma, ect...

Quoted post

When a pilot's landing, there is NO room for error. If a pilot fucks up on the approach to a runway, where they are flying low, there can be no time to stabilize the plane if something goes wrong. What's to keep this guy from pointing one at a 747 flying over a city? This guy SHOULD get some punishment.

Anymore...pilots are really just in the cockpit in case something goes wrong. Auto pilot systems do the majority of the work. Its all about the ALS.

from the article:

Listen to Michael, an Airbus A320 pilot for a major U.S. airline (who asks to be kept otherwise anonymous): "Here we have cleaners and caterers able to board and roam through aircraft with no security screening whatsoever, yet people are worried about laser beams? Our priorities are insane."

Originally posted by ODS-1+Jan 5 2005, 07:50 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ODS-1 - Jan 5 2005, 07:50 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-society_kills@Jan 5 2005, 07:09 PM

news said somthing like 25 to life and 500 g fine...

 

fucking idiot...did you forget your civil rights got repealed.

Quoted post

Whatever, this guy is a retard. I doubt he'd be laughing when a plane crashed into his house after he blinded the pilot with that stupid thing. People shouldn't fuck around with 3 ton metal objects that fly over people's heads.

This guy needs his ass kicked.

[/b]

HAHAHAHHAHAHHAA

HOLY SHIT, GO FUCKING KILL YOURSELF. YOURE RETARDED.

Originally posted by GucciCondom+Jan 5 2005, 08:05 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GucciCondom - Jan 5 2005, 08:05 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'>dude laser pointers dont fucking really effect your eyes i've had many a laser shined directly in my eye socket from inches away and it didn't do shit, let alone do enough to fucking make you crash a plane. i dont see how they could even notice it from that far away or how it even reached that far.

 

people are fucking pussies.

Quoted post

[/b]

it obviously wasn't your run-of-the-mill laser pointer if it was able to reach 3000 feet into the sky.

<!--QuoteBegin-ODS-1@Jan 6 2005, 09:18 AM

When a pilot's landing, there is NO room for error. If a pilot fucks up on the approach to a runway, where they are flying low, there can be no time to stabilize the plane if something goes wrong. What's to keep this guy from pointing one at a 747 flying over a city? This guy SHOULD get some punishment.

i agree he should get SOME punishment, but absolutely not 25 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. making an example out of somebody is one thing, but the guy didn't harm anyone, didn't damage anything, and doesn't deserve what they're charging him with. i think it's absolutely ridiculous.

^^^^Yeah, definently not that harsh of a punishment.

Autopilot does not always control the airplane, especially in older planes like 727s and 747s.

Just because he didn't damage anything doesn't mean he should get off scot free. He could have caused a large airline crash. A delta pilot had his retina burned from one of those things. Bottom line is that people shouldn't do stupid shit. Even if no one gets hurt in the end, it's still stupid.

This shouldn't have been publicized in the first place. Now there's a million fucking rednecks who are going to see this on the news and think it's a good idea and will go out and do it.

By the way, these two planes are usuall NOT equipped with autopilot.

if you think laser pointers can burn your retnas from that far away, why would you go looking at it? especially if you have a plane to fly. this shit makes no sense.