FAA to holiday laser light lovers: Watch out where you point those things!

One of the hottest holiday fads this year is decorating your home with little laser cannons that project “lights” onto your house. The easy-to-install light beam covers the house from top to bottom -- and maybe, oops, a bit of the sky?

That could cause a problem for pilots.

Last week, an American Airlines pilot reported seeing a laser light from an altitude of 15,000 feet as he approached Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, according to media reports.

It turned out that the light was coming from a home decked out with laser lights.

Ditto for a U.S. Coast Guard plane over Sacramento that reported in November that someone was shining a green light on it.

“Our concerns about lasers -- regardless of the source -- is that they not be aimed at aircraft where the beams can threaten the safety of a flight by distracting or blinding pilots,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

“Consumers who buy these new light displays should take precautions to make sure that the lights are hitting their houses and not shining off into the sky. In situations such as this, we would start by asking the person to either adjust them or turn them off.”

By the way, pointing lasers at any type of aircraft, from helicopters to commercial jets, is a federal crime.
One popular model of the laser decoration, called the Star Shower Laser Light Display, sells at Wal-Mart for $39.99.

The device comes with an instruction sheet on how to position the lights and a warning that says lasers should “not be projected at or within the flight path of an aircraft within ten nautical miles of an airport.”

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