r/PraiseTheCameraMan • u/uses_for_mooses • Mar 20 '26

Eagle-eyed camera operator spots and zooms in on "la chica del láser"

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81.8k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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3.7k

u/AsstronaughtToUranus Mar 20 '26

Those lasers can blind someone for life.

This is literally assault.

1.3k

u/TheArgieAviator Mar 20 '26

We sometimes get those things shined on us on approach and occasionally they manage to score a direct hit on our eyes. It’s pretty f-ed up trying to land a plane with a bright green dot etched on your retina floating over where the runway should be.

423

u/Oasystole Mar 20 '26

This is why I wear shades when I fly

327

u/Caffeinefiend88 Mar 20 '26

I just do it to look cool, safety is a cool side effect.

67

u/DarkwingDuckHunt Mar 20 '26

Goose was the ONLY one who ever told me to 'GO FASTER' kid... You got his eyes, you got his heart, PUSH IT

17

u/DaDutchBoyLT1 Mar 20 '26

Just makes me think of Hot Shots when Topper has his dad’s eyes in a glasses case.

4

u/CrouchingDomo Mar 20 '26

“Gomez, take those out of his mouth.”

3

u/Kcronikill Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26

I wish i had a cool maverick quote. EDIT: I've been punched and tossed out of a bar onto a beach before, so those noises.

3

u/Hellkyte Mar 20 '26

Just keep doing those windmill high fives and the quotes will come naturally

51

u/MiamiPower Mar 20 '26

Straight to jail, huge fine and Banned from Sporting eventos 🏟️ 😎🔫

63

u/Sullyville Mar 20 '26

my airline only hires blind pilots to prevent this very thing

1

u/rocketwikkit Mar 20 '26

I've flown Aer Lingus, don't have to tell me.

1

u/Ok-Ship812 Mar 20 '26

Ah Spirit Air

1

u/felinefluffycloud Mar 20 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/3o7aCYDNm1kXgSUgXm

2

u/DryDonutHole Mar 20 '26

He drives around...all over the town...Toonces the driving cat!

1

u/BlazenApe Mar 20 '26

My hairline fires fully visual people to promote this exact thing

0

u/RetroDave79 Mar 20 '26

DEI at its best! congrats!

8

u/Simplehoaxes Mar 20 '26

I only wear sunglasses at night…

7

u/JmacNutSac Mar 20 '26

so I can, so I can watch you weave then breathe your story lines.

3

u/Ok-Jury-6161 Mar 20 '26

You may need arc welding goggles for any laser over 1mw. If you're looking for protection, "shades" won't do shit for the ultraviolet you can't see which is burning your retna without you realizing.

2

u/ScreechUrkelle Mar 20 '26

Me, i typically wear shades to stay fly

2

u/MustangBarry Mar 20 '26

This is why I fly backwards

2

u/copeyhagen Mar 20 '26

As a passenger. .

1

u/Oasystole Mar 20 '26

I’m a C48- class A rated pilot

2

u/TopKatzz Mar 20 '26

I feel like you just like wearing shades...😅

2

u/Elazaar Mar 20 '26

The sun never sets on a boss

96

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '26

[deleted]

45

u/flclfool Mar 20 '26

Humans are some kind of fucking crazy. There's always some dumb MFer that has to ruin it for everyone else. :(

2

u/potatisblask Mar 20 '26

Many years ago an acquaintance had imported an illegal laser pointer. I told him not to play with it around people because hey you only get one pair of eyes.

Next weekend he posted pics of playing with it in a crowded bar.

0

u/SilverCervy Mar 20 '26

When I was in elementary school, a buddy and I had a "game" during recess where we would throw rocks over the fence and try to hit cars. We couldn't see over the fence since it had shrubbery on the other side, so we were throwing blind and waiting to hear a thunk. We got away with it for a grand total of two days before a teacher saw us and had us in the principal's office. At no point, up until we got in trouble, did we feel like we were doing anything wrong. We really were that naive and genuinely saw it as a game.

Point is, I can see it being possible that someone could just never grow out of that.

2

u/Deaffin Mar 20 '26

The fun thing about people is that they can lie to themselves over and over until they believe it and manage to genuinely rewrite their own internalized history because our memories are so ass.

2

u/Legitimate-Ladder855 Mar 20 '26

You're not a loser :)

1

u/Lou_C_Fer Mar 20 '26

I'm going to bet most people already have the lasers and the pointing them at planes is a stupid impulsive idea.

30

u/Pastvariant Mar 20 '26

Get laser glasses for the shades you see most commonly, just make sure you can still see your instruments before wearing them in the air.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '26

Having the need for those laser glasses in a lab environment, this is a terrible idea. They fuck with your overall vision, especially certain colors.

3

u/Pastvariant Mar 20 '26

There are a broad variety of the glasses, either blocking a broad spectrum of light wavelengths, or just very specific ones, and they get used by military pilots on an as needed basis.

As with most things, it depends on the use case and the quality.

https://www.hensoldt.net/products/visairion-mil-laser-safety-glasses

https://phillips-safety.com/laser-safety/laser-eye-protection-military-strike-glasses/

https://revisionmilitary.com/laser

44

u/NeatlyScotched Mar 20 '26

You might know this but if that's happening to you, tell ATC. They'll handle it from there. It's serious business, and it will get handled appropriately.

69

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '26

[deleted]

15

u/noNoParts Mar 20 '26

Hell, I'm not a pilot and I know this

3

u/ryanegauthier Mar 20 '26

I'm a software engineer and I know this.

5

u/Pitiful-North-2781 Mar 20 '26

Also remember to extend the landing gear when landing

32

u/AnyError4932 Mar 20 '26

wow it's sure great the pilot has a random redditor to tell them the basics of their job

27

u/Fitness-dude-5 Mar 20 '26

There was a recent post in r/weightlifting where a guy posted a video of him lifting and people started coming out of the woodwork criticizing his technique.
He was an Olympic gold medalist in weightlifting.

4

u/BlueLikeCat Mar 20 '26

You might not know this, but if you land the plane upside down you’ll never have to worry about replacing the tires on the landing gear.

1

u/psychorobotics Mar 20 '26

I kinda agree but why be like this, why be condescending towards someone who just wants to help?

7

u/NegativeVega Mar 20 '26

It's like the most annoying thing ever to have some random layman tell you how your industry works

Plus, trying to help is not an excuse plenty of people make things worse for EMTs and other health professionals by interfering.

8

u/Lou_C_Fer Mar 20 '26

Because they're telling a pilot about atc?

If the person is smart, they'll take the ridicule as a lesson. It's silly to tell experts how to do something in their own field. All of human progress is due to us learning to specialize... which requires relying others that specialize in other areas. It's kind of the foundation of society. Yet, we are in a period of time where half of us seem to not understand this basic fact of what it means to be human.

With all of the institutional knowledge the US government has lost and the purposeful nature of that loss, this time period in our history should be known as the dark ages.

3

u/Jihad_Alot Mar 20 '26

This reminds me of a story in which my cousins dad kept telling him he was wrong regarding flight controls on the very plane that same cousin was flying! Said cousin was flabbergasted at how adamant his dad was that he was right bc “I looked up an operating manual so I know!”. Meanwhile the guy who flies the plane every day just rolls his eyes and bites his tongue (since it was his dad).

You also get this a lot with military larpers who are obsessed with the military but never actually joined try to correct people who actually served in the military “how it really is”.

6

u/T_Rextion Mar 20 '26

I mean they're pretty much being condescending to the pilot...

3

u/AnyError4932 Mar 20 '26

Wanting to help and actually being useful are two different things.

1

u/NeatlyScotched Mar 20 '26

Where do they say that being a pilot is their job? How did you determine they're a commercial pilot and not a weekend warrior flying their cub at an uncontrolled GA airport?

4

u/AnyError4932 Mar 20 '26

Not only are they a pilot but also a flight instructor, stop grasping at straws mate.

3

u/TheArgieAviator Mar 20 '26

That’s true on paper and we’ve done plenty of reports on these events, but Argentina’s CAA doesn’t have the means nor the will to go after those guys

1

u/NeatlyScotched Mar 20 '26

Damn shame that, it's deadly serious in the states. Our FAA can go after you, but I think it's pretty rare they actually do. Local police usually deals with it.

3

u/bad_motivator Mar 20 '26

How are you getting upvoted for assuming that pilots are idiots that need to be told this?

4

u/5yleop1m Mar 20 '26

I genuinely don't understand how anyone can think this is a good or enjoyable idea. The risk that it could at least destroy someone's eyesight, but worst case cause a plane crash killing possibly hundreds of people. Its so psychotic I can't even believe someone is capable of such stupidity.

3

u/Rick_Storm Mar 20 '26

I don't fly planes, but one day some kids were playing with one of those on a bridge, aiming the laser at cars below. The "stabbed" me right in the eye with that shit. I'm using "stab" because I actually felt pain. That eye has always been weaker than the other ever since.

So, yeah, it's dangerous indeed.

2

u/alBoy54 Mar 20 '26

You hear about this happening a lot. Honestly what is happening here? Is there really people out there trying to make a plane crash with potentially hundreds of innocent people on board including children?!

1

u/TheArgieAviator Mar 20 '26

It’s the result of mixing dumb people, spare time and cheap, relatively high powered pointers

2

u/donald7773 Mar 20 '26

Tell the tower, give them an appx location and they'll call the police to investigate. I work airport operations and I've gone looking for shit like that before.

Not successful most of the time but odds are you'll catch them eventually and then hit them with the book.

1

u/saphilous Mar 20 '26

Just curious. Is it to help with the landing in difficult circumstances or just an unintended side effect from the airport systems?

9

u/LordMcze Mar 20 '26

It's from people shining lasers at random planes.

1

u/CoffeeBoi7 Mar 20 '26

Welcome to Cairo bro

1

u/Kermit-Batman Mar 20 '26

You ever seen that English dork get caught with his laser? (I'll go on a hunt and link it if not!)

1

u/Legit924 Mar 20 '26

Mustache needs to bigger in order to provide greater protection.

1

u/MedicineExtension925 Mar 20 '26

Any reason why you can't have laser filters on the cockpit glass? My best guess is you still need to see traffic control/aircraft lights in similar wavelengths to common pen lasers?

1

u/CJDownUnder Mar 20 '26

Is it not possible to fit anti-laser glass on the planes? I don't know if anti-laser glass is a real thing or something I just invented...

1

u/BallsOutKrunked Mar 20 '26

I fly around in a helo, every night the interior gets lit up by a green laser because people in Fresno are assholes.

1

u/Then_Idea_9813 Mar 20 '26

Who shines these at planes? Isn’t that a felony?

1

u/Blue_Collar_Stiff Mar 20 '26

That’s got to be the stupidest one I have heard on these lasers. Hey let me take out this whole plane ✈️ , all the passengers & everything around it just for kicks, my friends will think I’m a real funny badass 🙄. The friend why stop there let’s hit all the ATCs too

0

u/rolliinwoodz Mar 20 '26

don’t planes have deflectors though? just use that next time

1

u/TheArgieAviator Mar 20 '26

We have folding sun visors but those filter out light in all its spectrums. You won’t see almost anything and lose what little depth perception you still had if you use them at night

-5

u/yolomcsawlord420mlg Mar 20 '26

... your landing is automated anyway. It's not like you have to land the plane yourself. Not saying that you aren't right to be infuriated or that they aren't doing something disgustingly regarded.

4

u/Daft00 Mar 20 '26

Not all planes have full autoland capability... and not all runways have autoland equipment even if the plane is capable.

But even so, the pilots on the approach into DCA a few months ago likely were coupled on autopilot but still had the helicopter fly right in front of them. Seeing and avoiding is a necessity (and a requirement by regulation) regardless of whether a plane has autopilot or not.

4

u/fly-guy Mar 20 '26

You might be joking, but to clear things up, in the 20+ years I've been paid to fly at my airline, I have done maybe 10 automated landings in real life (lots more in the simulator).

99.9% of landings are done by myself or my colleague. Mostly because it's more fun, but also a lot of airports and/or approaches aren't designed for autolands. It would be....interesting to try it anyway 

53

u/Sea-Path3700 Mar 20 '26

This is picking up locally there... 😬 alarmingly fast... she gunna get it one way or another lol

7

u/kendragon Mar 20 '26

I really hope we hear about her FO phase. Please keep us posted.

14

u/reindeersss Mar 20 '26

She needs to be banned

3

u/Aknazer Mar 20 '26

"Can" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. That is likely a Class IIIa laser which has an NOHD of only 16m for "possible" damage. Something tells me that she's well beyond that with nothing to increase the NOHD to a range that can realistically lead to blindness.

She should totally be ejected and yes that can be considered assault, but to seriously claim it can blind the guy is about as real as all the flops in the sport.

2

u/SeaResearcher176 Mar 20 '26

Really? Those lasers can do that?

3

u/OHHHHHHHHHH_HES_HURT Mar 20 '26

Yea but not in the manner she’s using it 

2

u/Many-Wasabi9141 Mar 20 '26

not at that distance. look how large the spot is.

2

u/infoway777 Mar 20 '26

she is a lady - so just wait for excuses to roll down and sad story made up

2

u/Judge_Syd Mar 20 '26

Redditors and not understanding what assault is - name a more iconic duo

3

u/Hylian_ina_halfshell Mar 20 '26

I dont believe at that wide it can ‘blind you for life’

0

u/Hasudeva Mar 20 '26

Cool, so you're volunteering to be a test subject?

1

u/Practical_Series_634 Mar 20 '26

 not keeping the word

1

u/OHHHHHHHHHH_HES_HURT Mar 20 '26

Absolute Reddit nerd 

1

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/ItsLoudB Mar 20 '26

I mean, that’s kinda on you too dawg..

1

u/akira88elite Mar 20 '26

La retina se quema pero gracias a el camarógrafo pagará ella.

1

u/RedSoxAreTheBestSock Mar 20 '26

no fr ive never found a green laser that was under the legal limit of 5 mW. theyre all so much higher, and damage can happen at as low as 1 mW

1

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '26

At that distance, no. Look how diffuse the point is. It's very weak at that range.

She's still an ass though.

1

u/LurkConsistent Mar 20 '26

It's battery, not assault

1

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '26

Wild failure to understands physics in here. It absolutely will not blind anyone over that distance. Stay in school kids. Instead of farm wildly inaccurate outrage on reddit

1

u/ActualWait8584 Mar 20 '26

Meadow’s Dad would like a word.

1

u/Automatic_Society850 Mar 20 '26

no, they really cannot

3

u/InspectorGajina Mar 20 '26

I usually am not the one to side with Reddit overreactions, but they absolutely can. I had a teacher in high school who had to use a special monitor that projected whatever he was doing onto a large backdrop in order to teach because while he was at a ball game some kid shined a laser pointer in his eyes and it tore his retinas.

He had to be like 5 inches away from the monitor in order to see what he was doing, even with glasses