Gulf Air pilot almost blinded during landing at Abu Dhabi – exclusive story

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.

About David Cenciotti
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.