An area behind some of the temples on Richmond’s “Highway to Heaven” were the focus of police attention last week after pilots reported being targeted by lasers.
The pilots on three passenger flights approaching YVR from the east radioed to air traffic control (ATC) that the lasers were being pointed from the large grass area north of Steveston Highway and east of No. 5 Road last Monday evening.
As per a response protocol for this exact scenario —designed by Richmond RCMP’s Sgt. Cam Kowalski and now standard procedure for Nav Canada — ATC alerted E-Comm, which then dispatched police to the area in question.
This time, however, the person responsible had gone.
“It’s all about the timing, in terms of catching people,” Kowalski said of the RCMP’s ability to find those responsible for potentially blinding a pilot with the laser pens, some of which have a 100-mile reach.
“It’s very difficult to investigate as, quite often, the pilot doesn’t know the area and won’t be able to pinpoint the location.
“On this occasion, however, we were led to the grass area behind the temples, where the pilots had spotted something.”
Kowalski said the response protocol has led to four arrests in the last year or so in other Lower Mainland jurisdictions.
“Four is not bad when you’re starting at zero,” added Kowalski, who said an arrest has still to be made in Richmond.
“We will keep on educating people about the dangers of doing this, but, for us, it’s about being in the right place at the right time.”
According to Transport Canada, if convicted of pointing a laser into an aircraft cockpit, the offender could face the $100,000 maximum fine under the Aeronautics Act, imprisonment of up to five years, or both penalties.
The stiffest penalty handed down thus far in B.C. has been a $1,000 fine.
Police and aviation authorities have been lobbying for more severe penalties, given the potential for serious injury to the pilot and endangering the aircraft.
Powerful lasers can be found in some electronic stores, but most are bought online from China.
Richmond RCMP handles an average of 35 calls a year where aircraft coming into YVR have been hit by the intense light from a laser.
