TRENTON, N.J. – A laser beam was aimed at a police helicopter Friday — one of several incidents involving aircraft across the country in the past week — and federal authorities were questioning someone who had been at a house where they said the light had originated.
Officials said no one was hurt when the laser hit the Port Authority (search) of New York and New Jersey police helicopter as it flew over an area where a similar incident occurred Wednesday.
Soon after, Port Authority officials and the FBI went to a Parsippany home where they had tracked the laser beam and were questioning a person there in connection with both incidents, said Steve Coleman (search), an authority spokesman. No charges had been filed as of late Friday night, Coleman said.
Police in the helicopter were trying to pinpoint the spot where three green lasers (search) were pointed at a pilot preparing to land a plane at Teterboro Airport (search) on Wednesday night. The force’s superintendent and some detectives were in the helicopter at the time, Coleman said.
The plane involved in Wednesday’s incident, a corporate-owned Cessna Citation with 13 people aboard, was about 11 miles from the airport when the incident occurred, authorities said. It landed safely and no injuries were reported.
Federal agents are looking into several recent incidents involving lasers and aircraft, including cases in Cleveland, Washington, Houston, Colorado Springs, Colo., and Medford, Ore. In some cases the lasers locked onto aircraft several thousand feet up as they approached airports for landing.
Though there have been no reports of accidents caused by lasers, they can temporarily blind and disorient a pilot and could lead to a plane crash. The FBI is investigating whether the incidents are pranks, accidents or something more sinister.
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