The Coast Guard said one of its helicopters was hit by a green laser while flying in the vicinity of Waimanalo Bay on Saturday.

It’s the fifth laser incident within the last year involving Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point.

The MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew was conducting a search in response to a distress call when the incident occurred, the Coast Guard said.

Four crew members observed the laser sweeping the aircraft, and one of the pilots was struck directly.

The Coast Guard is working with the Federal Aviation Administration and the Honolulu Police Department to investigate.

"We protected our eyes quickly enough to avoid being blinded, reported the incident and were able to continue the mission," said Lt. Cmdr. Roger Barr, a Dolphin helicopter pilot at Barbers Point.

This was the air station’s first East Oahu laser incident in recent years, Barr said.

"The frequency of incidents locally and nationally is increasing at a dangerous rate, and the public needs to know that when we are hit by a laser, we are no longer effective at finding that lost family member or friend," Barr said.

Laser pointers can cause glare, afterimage, flash blindness or temporary loss of night vision.

If any aircrew member’s vision is compromised during a flight, Coast Guard rules dictate that the team must abort the mission, officials said.

"If an aircrew member is lased it severely compromises their ability to fly the aircraft and complete the mission safely. In order to ensure their health, aircrew members are taken off flight duty until cleared by a flight surgeon before flying again. This hinders the Coast Guard’s ability to respond to people in distress, training and homeland security missions," the 14th District Coast Guard said in a statement.

It is a federal crime, as well as violation of most states’ laws, to aim a laser pointer at an aircraft, the Coast Guard said. An individual caught purposely aiming a laser at an aircraft may be arrested, with punishment ranging from a civil penalty of $11,000 for a single offense to more than $30,000 for multiple offenses.

Anyone who witnesses a laser incident is urged to call 911 immediately to report crime, the Coast Guard said. The FAA tracks laser incidents by city and state, initiating about 95 civil penalty cases in 2011 nationwide.