Does any one here think that the laser attacks on australian aircraft are terrorist attacks?

Question

i do and so should everyone

Answer 1

Yes, I think they're terrorist activity, because they are endangering potentially hundreds of people's lives.  If the pilots can't fly the plane then what are the people on board going to do?

Answer 2

No.  Holes don't keep an airplane from flying.

Answer 3

No, it is probably kids playing around.

As far as a laser attached to a small gun bringing down an aircraft, I don't think so.  88mm guns with exploding shells and radar guidance had enough trouble bringing down 40 ton aircraft flying at 200MPH back in WWII.  Just imagine how much harder it would be to bring down a 400ton aircraft that can fly over 500MPH.

.150?  That's smaller than my pellet gun.  Even if you could get the muzzle velocity up to something substantial, it wouldn't penetrate .125 aluminum at 100 yards and it probably wouldn't even be able to reach a plane that was flying.

Answer 4

No, I don't think these can be classified as terrorist attacks. In spite of this, the people doing this stupid act should be thrown in jail. Lasers jeopardise the pilots' safety and health. I don't think lasers could actually bring down the plane due to the fact that the plane is almost always on autopilot. However, it is still a serious issue and it should be stopped immediately~

Answer 5

It was laser cats.

Answer 6

its an interesting question. The media have taken this up as a 'lets scare the travelling public' project and rolling out the politicians to do their law and order bit.

Of course it is a serious situation when a pilot is deliberatley distracted -whether or not it could cause an aircraft to crash is debatable. I don't know whether I would go as far as to say its an act of 'terrorism' but it should certainly be stopped. And it probably will be when 1 or 2 people are caught and charged.

When I am watching these news items I wonder why the cops don't have 2 choppers in the air in the vicinity of the airport- if one gets hit by a laser, the other can hone in on the source from a distance and have a car there within minutes. It would be hard but not impossible.

Its stupid and dumband deseves a prison sentence, but is not a 'terrosrist attack' imo.

Answer 7

Not an act of terrorism from religious fundamentalists, but terrorism from the act of idiots endangering lives for no other reason than endangering lives. Whoever is doing it deserves to go to jail for a long time.

Also, airplanes are actually very thin... A bullet could easily penetrate and possibly kill someone on board. You need not worry about a bullet hitting the engine, worse case scenario it will fail, but not explode. I'd be more worried about hitting the fuel tanks.

Just so you all know, many modern airliners landing at major airports are capable of fully automated landings. They will line up, descend, maintain airspeed, flare, brake, and maintain runway centerline all automatically. For pilot proficiency, the auto-land system is rarely used, but if these lasers and possible bullets are a threat to the pilots, we will likely see autoland become required practice.

Answer 8

I think you meant .50 caliber rifle.

That would probably cause a jet to come down if on approach.  

Unlike WWII aircraft mentioned above, a modern airliner is full of vital areas that can be damaged by one shot.  Using the WWII analogy, one bullet could bring down a fighter, by hitting the radiator.

In a modern airliner, a .50 round through the cockpit window will sure as heck distract the crew, possibly kill one of them.  One in the engine will severely damage a jet engine, possibly causing a fire.