Pilots are angry at the government for voting against a bill which would have increased penalties for people that shine laser pointers at aircraft.
Photo: 123rf.com
Labour, Greens and New Zealand First voted against a members bill, which proposed to double the maximum fine for offenders to $4000 and double the jail time from three to six months.
The bill was introduced by National's Clutha-Southland MP Hamish Walker and failed its first reading yesterday.
National, ACT and Independent MP Jami-Lee Ross voted in favour.
Tim Robinson, from the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations, said problems with high powered laser pointers were only getting worse.
"Since 2014, we've seen a 130 percent increase in reported laser related incidents," he said.
"That's illumination of pilots on the flight deck and in fact air traffic control towers have been illuminated as well."
Robinson said New Zealand was falling behind other countries when it came to laser pointers and aircraft.
"For example in the United States, it is fines of up to $US250,000 ($NZ388,687) and a five year jail term for convicted offenders," he said.
Robinson said lasers pointed at pilots posed a major risk to safety.
"It can cause temporary blindness ... if they are shined directly in the pilots eyes, it can cause big headaches, it can cause confusion and loss of spatial awareness," he said.
Robinson said lasers were often pointed during take-off and landing.
"And often, when a pilot is flying an aircraft on take-off and landing they are manually flying the aircraft - the autopilot is disengaged," he said.
"So clearly, a pilot in manual control of an aircraft who has potential loss of situational awareness, temporary blindness [and] confusion, that mix is toxic."
Transport Minister Phil Twyford, said the bill was voted down "because it wouldn't do anything constructive".
"The problem with lasers being used maliciously, is not the sentencing in the law, it's the difficulty in locating the offender. That's the problem and Hamish Walker's bill wouldn't have helped that at all," he said.
Photo: RNZ /Dom Thomas
Twyford said pilots had acknowledged to him that increasing sentencing "won't necessarily have any effect on offending".
Walker said the tougher penalties could have acted as a deterrent to would-be offenders.
He hit out at the ruling parties for voting the bill down.
"It shows how out of touch they are with everyday New Zealanders who want these stupid, reckless acts to be stopped and these idiots that conduct these acts to be dealt with," Walker said.
Twyford said the government was "carefully monitoring" malicious use of laser pointers and are looking at ways to tightening up the importing and possession of laser pointers.
