Incident Overview
During a climb through approximately 4,500 feet above ground level on a standard instrument departure route, the first officer—who was the flying pilot—reported that a laser beam swept past the cockpit. He immediately experienced eye pain and was completely blinded in the right eye. Afterimage effects also induced a blind condition in his left eye. The total inability to see lasted 30 seconds, and for an additional 2 minutes, he could not focus on or interpret any instrument indications and was completely disoriented in his spatial relationship to the vertical.
Actions Taken
The captain was not irradiated by the beam and assumed control of the aircraft, continuing the climb. Recorded radar data was used to perform a trajectory and vehicle attitude study to determine the relative position of resorts with laser shows to the position and orientation of the aircraft.
Laser Show Analysis
Many of the larger hotels in Las Vegas have outdoor laser light shows. Most installations include fixed/stationary static beams of relatively high power and dancing beams of lower power that flash about the sky in irregular patterns. As the aircraft passed through 7,000 feet, the positions of three resorts relative to the aircraft were all located in the clear vision field of view of the first officer, and at a position of less than 90 degrees relative azimuth from the first officer's eye reference point. One resort had the shortest three-dimensional distance to the aircraft at 4.7 nautical miles, while the other two were at three-dimensional distances of about 7 nautical miles.
Source of Laser
The source of the laser could not be established with certainty. Fifty-one prior incidents of laser irradiations to pilots have been recorded by the Las Vegas air traffic facility over the past two years.
Regulatory Context
FAA Order 7400.2D, in effect at the time, contains guidelines for FAA personnel in the approval process for determining whether a proposed outdoor laser light display is compatible with navigable airspace. The order defines two areas: the Nominal Ocular Hazard Distance (NOHD) and the Eye Safe Distance (ESD). NOHD is defined as the distance from the point source where the irradiance level in power and area footprint can cause permanent thermal damage to the retina. ESD encompasses all other irradiance exposures where biological damage to the eye should not occur. Approval requires only that the laser beam be classed as ESD in navigable airspace. The approval process does not consider such laser exposure effects as flashblindness, afterimage, startle, and high glare conditions on pilot performance.