By Staff Reporter
09/10/2015
Pilots at the Wonderboom Airport have complained that members of the public have been pointing laser beams at them when departing or landing on Threshold 29 (eastern part of the main runway (Doornpoort area) as well as when flying towards/from the airport over the Bonn Accord dam area.
The Air Traffic Controllers have also confirmed these complaints and said these incidents seem to occur in the evening between approximately 18:30 to 20:30.
“We have enlisted the services of the law enforcement authorities to help us catch the culprits, who will be handed over to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for prosecution in terms of the CAA Act, Act 13 of 2009, as directing a laser beam at an aircraft is illegal and a prosecutable offence” said Mr Selby Bokaba, the executive director for strategic communication at the City of Tshwane. The police have already caught a suspect pointing a laser beam at an aircraft within the Tshwane jurisdiction, and a court case in another incident in this regard is underway in Bloemfontein.
He said lasers can blind a pilot landing an aircraft and can also kill passengers aboard an aircraft. The latest laser incident we had happened towards the east of the Wonderboom Airport last Sunday night, and this was not the first incident. The prohibited items that can’t be pointed at an aircraft include Chinese lanterns, kites, helium balloons, drones and model aircraft used around airports.
“The Tshwane Airport Services Division would like to issue a stern warning to people who point laser beams at aircraft operators that they will be arrested, prosecuted and sent to jail in terms of the Civil Aviation Act.
“Pointing a laser at an aircraft is regarded as an extremely serious offence which can lead to the offender fined or sent to prison if found guilty,” Mr Bokaba said.
