MEMPHIS, Tenn. — On Saturday, Memphis police say a man pointed a laser into the cockpit of a Tennessee Highway Patrol helicopter over and over again. The guy was arrested.
Eric Price, who is 47 years old, has been charged with three counts of aggravated attack for the following:
On Friday at 10:30 p.m., a state trooper talked to a Pilot Lieutenant with the Tennessee Highway Patrol. The Lieutenant told the trooper that while the helicopter was in the air over Memphis, an unknown person kept shining a laser into the cockpit, putting all three passengers in danger of serious harm.
In their report, the police say that pointing a laser at an airplane pilot can temporarily blind and confuse them, which can put the flight crew and people below at risk of dying or seriously hurting themselves.
In this case, the victims said that the constant laser pointing made them cover their eyes and fly the chopper for a short time without being able to see what was going on in the airspace to avoid becoming incapacitated or dying again.
A police officer in Memphis was told that the laser was coming from a shed behind the address of a house in the 400 block of Angelus Street.
When the uniformed officer got to the house, he talked to a man through the window. The man was later found to be Eric Price.
Price told the trooper on the spot that he was the one who pointed the laser at the plane while they were talking.
Price was caught and put on $20,000 bail. He was freed after that.
A message from the Federal Aviation Administration says that they will also be looking into this event.
“The FAA works closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement to bring civil and criminal charges against people who aim a laser at an airplane on purpose,” Mike Whitaker, administrator of the FAA, said.
After seeing a rise in cases, the Federal Aviation Administration started a campaign earlier this year to make people more aware of how dangerous laser strikes can be.
The FAA says that pointing a laser at an airplane on purpose is a federal crime and a very serious threat to flight safety.
Pilots told the FAA about 13,304 laser hits last year.
There have been 8,863 cases so far this year. 483 of them took place in Tennessee.
Source: Man Arrested for Allegedly Aiming Laser at Tennessee Highway Patrol Helicopter
