Laser strikes on Nashville aircrafts surge in 2023
More than 100 strikes were reported last year, a 55% increase.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - According to new data from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the number of reported instances of lasers pointed at aircraft in-flight in Nashville in 2023 increased by over 55%.
The number of laser strikes reported to the FAA last year exceeded 13,000, a 41% increase from 2022.
Last year, there were 104 reported strikes at Nashville International Airport, an increase of more than 55% compared to the 67 strikes reported the previous year. This trend is something local pilot and AeroLuxe Aviation owner Andrew Bigham finds alarming.
“Typically, these laser shots are happening at very low levels — so taking off, landing, flying around downtown,” Bigham said. “That in itself is the most dangerous part of the entire flight.”
Bigham said he has never experienced being lasered but hears stories from other pilots in the Nashville aviation community. He said hearing their stories alone makes him hope he never has to know what it’s like.
“When we’re flying around downtown, we’re already at lower altitudes so the clients can see,” he said, “And having even just a split second of a laser beam coming across our windshield and into our eyes, there is not much reaction time left to be able to recover from that type of situation.”
Pointed to the sky, lasers are a serious threat. They can distract pilots or cause flash blindness, which Bigham said could potentially distract the pilot long enough to hit a tower or a building downtown. He said, oftentimes, people shine these lasers for fun or because they don’t know the risks.
“I feel like, for the most part, people don’t think about the serious implications that happen and how seriously dangerous it is to the pilot in our operations of the aircraft,” Bigham said. “Flying an aircraft is dangerous in itself, but adding not being able to see is, you know, it’s detrimental to our operation.”
Because of this trend, Bigham said he and his team have completed training on what to do if this happens to them.
Pilots are instructed to report laser strikes after a 2012 law that made it a federal crime, punishable by up to five years in prison, to point a laser at an aircraft or its flight path.
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