$10,000 rewards offered by the FBI to protect aircraft

To deal with the increasing number of dangerous laser light flashes directed at aircraft in flight over Hawaii and elsewhere, the FBI has extended to all 50 states its offer of rewards up to $10,000 for information leading to arrests.

There were more than 3,900 incidents of people pointing lasers at aircraft reported by the Federal Aviation Administration last year, with 95 of them in Hawaii.

So far this year through May 16, the FAA reported 32 incidents in Hawaii with nine recorded at Honolulu Airport; 11 on Maui; two in Hilo; one each at Wahiawa, Kona and Lihue; and seven in Kaneohe.

However, there have been no local arrests.

Federal officials here have been unable to arrest or prosecute anyone for aiming a hand-held laser at an aircraft.

In November, Coast Guard Lt. Roger Barr was responding to a mayday call near Waimanalo Bay when the cockpit of his MH-65 Dolphin helicopter was hit by a green laser light from the ground.

"We protected our eyes quickly enough to avoid being blinded, reported the incident and were able to continue the mission," said Barr shortly after the Nov. 23 incident.

It was the fourth time in 2013 that a Coast Guard Barbers Point Air Station aircraft had been hit by a laser — a violation of federal law.

A high-powered laser can be temporarily blinding in the cockpit, endangering the lives of both pilots and passengers.

"It may seem like harmless mischief, but the stakes are very high," said Honolulu FBI Special Agent Tom Simon. "Lives are literally in the balance, and blinding pilots is serious business. … Pilots need to be at the top of their game as they take off and land from Hawaii’s airports. Not being able to see their instruments because of a blinding laser strike could be catastrophic."

When aimed at an aircraft, the powerful beam of light from a hand-held laser can travel more than a mile and illuminate a cockpit, disorienting and temporarily blinding pilots, the FAA said.

Those who have experienced such attacks have described them as the equivalent of a camera flash going off in a pitch-black car at night. As of December the FAA had documented at least 35 incidents in which pilots required medical attention after a laser strike.

Since 2011 the FAA has been imposing civil penalties of up to $11,000 per violation for pointing a laser at an aircraft. Two years ago Congress made it a felony punishable by a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

During 2012-2013 the FAA investigated 152 cases of laser events nationwide and took enforcement action in 96 of those cases.

However, no one in Hawaii has been prosecuted for laser light violations, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliot Enoki.

In February in 12 locations where "lasing" incidents were prevalent, the FBI began offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to arrests. Since then there has been a 19 percent decrease in the number of reported incidents in the major metropolitan areas of those locations, the FBI reported.

The regional reward program was offered by FBI field offices in Albuquerque, N.M.; Chicago; Cleveland; Houston; Los Angeles; New York; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Sacramento, Calif.; San Antonio; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Washington, D.C.

This week the FBI — along with the FAA and the Air Line Pilots Association, International — extended the program to all 50 states, Guam and Puerto Rico.

"We are also working with state, local, and international law enforcement on the campaign, and we are conducting outreach to schools to educate teens about the dangers associated with lasing," the FBI reported Monday.

"Lasers come pretty cheap these days. My fear is that kids will think this is fun without considering the consequences. They could endanger the lives of hundreds of air travelers while ruining their own futures by committing a felony," said the FBI’s Simon.

Since the FBI and the FAA began tracking laser strikes in 2005, there has been more than a 1,100 percent increase in the number of incidents with the devices, which can be purchased in stores or online for as little as a few dollars. Last year 3,960 laser strikes against aircraft were reported, the FBI said.

"We applaud our colleagues at the Justice Department for aggressively prosecuting aircraft laser incidents, and we will continue to use civil penalties to further deter this dangerous activity," said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta.

The number of reported laser incidents nationwide rose from 2,836 in 2010 to 3,482 in 2012, the FAA reported.

In Hawaii there were 74 incidents reported in 2011, with Honolulu Airport recording 36 laser events, the FAA said.

The reported laser events dipped to 46 in 2012 but more doubled in 2013 with 95 reported.

Of those 95 cases, 69 were reported at Honolulu Airport.

Anyone with information about an incident or who sees someone pointing a laser at an aircraft should call an FBI office or dial 911.