By Minahil Makhdoom
ISLAMABAD: An international flight coming from Doha was targeted with laser light before landing at the Islamabad airport on Thursday.
According to sources, the pilot of the flight was distracted by a ‘flashing laser light’. The plane was just seven nautical miles away from landing at the Islamabad airport, when it was targeted with a yellow laser light.
The captain of the flight immediately informed the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) about the incident. Meanwhile, a complaint has been registered at Police Station Rawat. It was learnt that the light was flashed from phase no 8 of a private housing society.
On July 13 that the airport manager of Bacha Khan International Airport had complained about the various incidents regarding the projection of laser lights towards incoming and departing aircraft. The manager had said in its letter that at least seven incidents were reported from January to June this year which frightened the cockpit crew, especially of the foreign carrier.
It also read that the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) rules 1994 prohibit illumination of any such light which can be mistaken for an aeronautical ground. It had added that the pilots of many airlines raised complaints about the disturbance caused by subject technologies which affected the flight operations and distracted the manoeuvrability of pilots.
