Revealed: BA pilot 'left with severe eye damage after 'military strength' laser attack near Heathrow'

Laser attack: the incident is thought to have happened near Heathrow
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Robin de Peyer23 November 2015

A British Airways co-pilot was left with severe eye damage after a “military strength” laser was shone into his cockpit, a union boss has claimed.

He was the victim of the most serious injury ever inflicted on a pilot from a laser attack in the UK, according to the British Airline Pilots Association.

The attack is said to have taken place as the plane flew in to land at Heathrow Airport this spring.

Jim McAuslan, general secretary of the Balpa union, said: “His retina was burnt on one of his eyes.

"People have assumed (the laser) must have been military strength” because of the severity of the damage in comparison to what would be expected to be inflicted from a laser pen, he added.

Mr McAuslan said: "When there's something like this, that's damaged a man's retina, that starts to worry us."

He said the victim was a co-pilot at the time of the incident and was not operating the plane.

He was taken to a hospital in Sheffield for treatment and has not been back to work following the attack.

Mr McAuslan did not reveal the identity of the victim as the case is "under an employment tribunal".

Balpa has found that half of pilots experienced a laser attack in the past 12 months.

Figures from the Civil Aviation Authority show more laser incidents were reported at Heathrow than at any other airport in the UK this year.

The west London hub had 48 attacks in the first six months of the year. Some 168 were recorded in 2014.

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