On Feb. 15, a Gulf Air pilot was hit by a high-power laser during approach to Abu Dhabi suffering “high light intoxication” on one eye. The pilot, that was hospitalized upon arrival, was flying the aircraft in the downwind for runway 31L when he observed the laser originating from nearby a car, in a desertic area. Investigation is in progress. Such kind of events have become quite frequent all around the world and laser attacks against civil (and in some cases also military) planes during landing have been occurring almost daily.
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.
The following interesting pictures show the effects of a birdstrike on a windshield of an Airbus 321. Fortunately, the aircraft involved was able to land safely but as we have discussed much on this site, […]
The article linked below from Daily Mail Online is just a snapshot of what can happen in airports around the world. It’s hard to believe a small toy can pose a threat to aviation safety […]
After discussing a lot about the safety issues of the B747-400 and B777 fleets, I thought it could be interesting to go to Fiumicino to watch some wide-bodies arriving or departing from Rome airport and […]
