UPI
CHICAGO — Charges were pending against two people suspected of aiming a laser beam at a police helicopter and commercial aircraft, authorities in Chicago said.
Police said they received a report of a laser beam aimed at a commercial flight at Chicago’s Midway Airport Thursday evening and when a police helicopter was sent to check, the beam was aimed at it as well, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday.
Police said a 23-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman were arrested about five miles east of the airport.
It is illegal to aim a laser light at an aircraft. While the laser beam starts out as a narrow shaft, it can spread to as much as 3 feet by the time it hits an aircraft.
The light can distract a pilot, block vision and raise fear of an attack, the report said.
Copyright 2011 U.P.I.