US man gets jail time for laser blinding pilots

Los Angeles, Nov 4 : A California man has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail for aiming a laser beam at two jets as they were coming in to land at the John Wayne Airport in southern California, NBC Los Angeles reported Tuesday.

The report said that Dana Christian Welch, 37, was the first person in the US to be convicted of interfering with pilots by aiming lasers at their planes.

Assistant US Attorney Sherilyn Peace Garnett said that Welch aimed a laser beam at two Boeing jets as the pilots were about to land at the airport May 21, 2008. The first plane, a United Airlines jet, was carrying more than 180 passengers and crew members while the second was carrying more than 80 people. The laser beam struck a United pilot in the eye, causing "flash blindness," Garnett said.

--IANS