Mounties point to Suncor site

Good story from the Edmonton Sun below addressing the issue of people pointing lasers at aircraft following an incident in Fort Mackay Sask.

Transport Canada Report on the incident:

C-GWKO from Jetphotos.net

C-GWKO, a Cessna Caravan operated by McMurray Aviation, was en route VFR from Fort Chipewyan to Fort McMurray at 3,500 feet ASL when the aircraft was targeted by a green laser 3 miles west of the Fort Mackay/Firebag airport. The pilot reported that the laser temporarily disoriented him and it appeared to come from a camp west of the airstrip. The laser followed the aircraft for about 15 seconds.

Laser strikes continue to be an ongoing problem - read more here.

Re-post from Edmonton Sun - http://www.edmontonsun.com/2011/11/04/mounties-point-to-suncor

By Jeff Cummings ,Edmonton Sun

First posted: Friday, November 04, 2011 06:08 PM MDT | Updated: Friday, November 04, 2011 06:23 PM MDT 

Pointing lasers at aircraft is no laughing matter, say Mounties after someone pointed a laser from Suncor’s operations near Fort McKay at an airplane Thursday night.

Wood Buffalo RCMP say a witness onboard a small commuter plane traveling from Fort Chipewyan to Fort McMurray noticed a green laser that was pointed at the aircraft sometime around 8:15 p.m.

Mounties say the laser came from Suncor property as it flew 6.5 km west of the Firebag Airstrip -- a private airstrip used to fly in workers for the area’s booming oilsands operations.

“The police made a number of patrols and spoke to a number of persons at Suncor, however, we are kind of at a dead end because we don’t have any further information about this,” said Const. Christina Wilkins, a spokeswoman with the Wood Buffalo RCMP.

“If anybody else has any information about this, we are asking them to please come forward as this is a very serious offence.”

Transport Canada warns that aiming bright light sources into cockpits of an aircraft is a federal offence because it jeopardizes aviation safety.

It could also have consequences for pilots as the strong lights could distract them, or it could cause temporary flash blindness -- something that will affect their ability to safely fly the aircraft, Transport Canada says.

Wilkins says offenders can also face numerous charges under Canada’s criminal code and a conviction could result in a five-year prison sentence or a maximum fine of $100,000.

“This is something where the general public might misconceive this to be just a joke, but this is a very huge deal,” said Wilkins.

A Lacombe man was fined $500 last February for unintentionally shining a laser beam at Edmonton’s Air-1 while testing his son’s laser on some tree leaves.

Alvin Bautista, 38, was found guilty of creating a hazard to aviation under the Federal Aeronautics Act, but was acquitted of a more serious charge of endangering the safety of an aircraft in flight by projecting a bright light.