SayethWhaaaa 245 Posted August 7, 2007 http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22206208-2,00.html Aussie fighter jets laser target car in traffic TWO Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F/A-18 Hornets accidentally directed weapon-guiding laser beams into moving traffic during training exercises on the New South Wales north coast earlier this year. A RAAF investigation found the Litening laser targeting system on board two of the multi-million dollar planes inadvertently activated for a total of 43 seconds during evaluation flights on May 28. The two F/A-18 Hornets from RAAF Base Newcastle aimed their laser beams at one car during simulated targeting of a road intersection near Forster. Despite the laser beams hitting the car while eight others were in the vicinity, the investigation concluded the chances of injury were remote. The laser incidents occurred at the corner of The Lakes Way and Seal Rocks Road at approximately 11.30am and 4.15pm on May 28. "Air Force sets the highest standards in its OH&S and duty of care to the community when conducting training or evaluation flights," Air Commodore Geoff Brown, the Air Force director general of capability planning, said. "Air Force commissioned an investigation which has concluded that the likelihood of anyone being injured in this incident is remote. "This is based on advice from several experienced aviation medical specialists in Australia and overseas." A Department of Defence fact sheet said the risk of eye exposure to drivers is considered low, but inadvertent exposure can cause permanent eye damage to the retina. The air crew thought the laser designator could not operate because it was in training mode, defence said. RAAF and US Air Force specialists have advised they are not aware of any instances where people on the ground were injured by lasers coming from a plane. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JediMaster 451 Posted August 8, 2007 Yeah, they would've needed to look at or near the planes for it to do anything to them. However, usually in training they use an "eye safe" setting unless it's a live fire exercise. So the question is: did it activate because it was NOT in training mode, or did it activate DESPITE being in training mode? One is crew error, the other a technical error. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nesher 628 Posted August 10, 2007 thanks for article... lucky no one got hurt ^_^ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
