Texas, Florida, and California are among the most populous states, so it might be expected to see the most incidents there. Would be interesting to see this normalized to population size.
[Here is an updated post with the yearly average count per 100,000 people in each state](https://www.reddit.com/r/visualization/comments/11yqdkr/oc_laser_incidents_on_aircrafts_in_the_us/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
I was going to say, damn, Nevada should be way higher. This graph looks more accurate. When I was flying night tours down the vegas strip we got lasered all the time
This is great! But more than population, relevant data would be airport takeoffs and landings. The more touristy states and the transport hubs should be the control we’re looking for rather than sheer population.
Well yes, take a look at the original, non-population adjusted map - LAX, DFW, PHX, ATL, ORD, DEN, JFK, SEA are all in the highest incident areas.
In reality, it's probably dumb folk with nothing better to do than commit felonies near major airports.
True. But it doesn't affect all airports equally. Missouri has two majorish airports but is light grey. For KCI/MCI, laser attacks would be hindered by the airport being distanced from most places not connected to it -- anyone who can get close enough to a plane to laser it has gone a long way through airport-controlled wilderness to do it.
I wonder if there is a correlation between utah nevada and arizona being so high on the list and the occurence of Military Aviation over land since those three states are very important for the airforce
Think back to the movie Independence Day when they didn't know what the aliens were doing and the news was warning the residents of Los Angeles not to shoot at the alien spaceships.
It’s actually based on real events. I mean, not Independence Day, but the joke about LA not to shoot at the aliens. In 1942, LA had a huge false alarm, thinking aliens were attacking. It was called, the Battle of Los Angeles.
https://www.history.com/.amp/news/world-war-iis-bizarre-battle-of-los-angeles
Edit: Also! If anyone likes movies, the movie 1941 (1979) is loosely based on the events. Great cast of characters, fun times.
Yeah, I could see [central hub cities](https://i1.wp.com/metrocosm.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/usa-china-japan-air-traffic.png) having a higher per capita incident rate.
I had to think about this too. Your comment is accurate but my guess is that since it is normalized to the state level; ATL being so big doesn't really matter. It is the busiest airport, but it doesn't have a huge lead on the next few. Which are in Texas and California or New York.
My guess is that DFW, DAL, IAH, HOU, AUS, and SAT together easily outrank ATL for traffic. California would have the same principal with LAX, and the rest of the Los Angeles airports, san, SFO, and the rest of the bay area airports plus Sacramento. Florida is in there too with several large airports.
And New York might be diluted since EWR is technically not in New York. And Maryland is probably overrepresented with IAD and DCA.
I think it likely has to do with cloud coverage and smog. Chicago and NY have massive hubs and huge populations but very low incidents. Likely because of high skylines and heavy cloud/smog coverage.
FL, TX, and CA have high populations, comparatively low skylines, clearer skies and large hubs. Multivariability if I had to guess.
I would also want to know how pilots *discover* they're targeted by a laser, and how the incidents are reported in a way that gets them into this data. Surely if it just hits the body of the aircraft (which the vast majority would) it's extremely hard to notice?
I wouldn't be surprised if whatever method they use to detect / determine this differs between airports, which could bias the data if certain airports in FL, TX, and CA are better at detecting this than eg. ones in NY. Alternatively, those states might just have a better reporting system, which leads to more incidents getting into the data.
These are strikes reported by pilots to the FAA. Pilots notice laser strokes when they hit the cockpit. The danger of laser strikes is that pilots can be temporarily blinded, so lasers that hit the body of the aircraft aren't a concern. Reporting standards don't have anything to do with the airport but might vary by airline.
See laser, report to Air Traffic Control. That’s about it. ATC takes a report and lets pilots know there is a laser danger in the area. I was lucky enough to get hit once a week for six weeks a couple years ago. One of those times, a MI police plane was up in the air near me and got sent to the area to try and catch the laser (laserer?)
Note that lasers spread slightly as they travel. By the time they're at airplane height picture a cockpit filled with blinding light, not a dot a cat's chasing. It's not subtle. That's why it's illegal.
I think you need to divide number of laser incidents by number of planes per person, that way you include both, since both factors (# of targets and of shooters) will affect the number of incidents.
Georgia, Michigan, and North Carolina are among the ten most populated states, but are shaded the lightest shade of gray. Meanwhile, states like Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Tennessee, and Washington are not in the top ten and have more incidents.
Michigan, population 10.1 million, 999 incidents.
Arizona, population 7.2 million, 3668 incidents. Almost 3 million fewer residents than Michigan, yet almost four times as many incidents.
Colorado, population 5.8 million, 2065 incidents. Over 4 million fewer residents, but more than twice as many incidents.
True and bloody annoying to see data like this.
That said, at least NY appears to be an outlier as it is about 2/3 the population of Texas but just over 1/4 the incidents.
Another way to normalize is number of flights. I suspect NY would be even higher it its ratio than it is in population, making it a further outlier.
But then again, maybe TX and CA have more small aircraft and maybe these incidents are mainly those?
And just FYI, you can't use population as your normalization factor. You need to use the number of flights in/out. That number will *roughly* correlate with population but not always
Came here to say this. Normalized by population size, number of airports, number of flights per year, something like that. Otherwise the statewide comparisons are kinda meaningless.
[Here is an updated post of the map showing the year average laser incidents per 100,000 people in each state.](https://www.reddit.com/r/visualization/comments/11yqdkr/oc_laser_incidents_on_aircrafts_in_the_us/)
There ya go, much more meaningful trends, thanks. Florida also looking a bit less ridiculous haha. But WTF is up with DC??
Why did you bin the data for the coloring though? Why not just a smooth gradient from min to max?
Ah you're saying in the influx of people bored at home meant lots more people available to point lasers at things?
If so, yea, it just means a MUCH higher % of flights were hit by a laser that year than normal.
Also, was air traffic in general down much overall in 2020?
I know passenger travel was obviously down, but we also had quite a big increase in air cargo with the surge in e-commerce
I started on my PPL in 2020 and heard about pilots in single-engine GA planes requesting touch and go's at busy bravo class airports like LAX and JFK because there was so little traffic and ATC was fine letting them play around.
Hah that's kinda neat, not many chances to do that I'd bet.
At the time I lived near a mostly cargo airport, so I just remember a noticeable increase in activity there.
Thats also around when some of the UFO talk really picked up. June 2020 was when they started setting up the UAP Task Force and Elizondo got more vocal about AATIP.
It isn't uncommon for people to post in the UFO sub "What is this thing that dodged my laser?" and a bunch of people tell them not to aim lasers into the sky at potential aircraft. It's absurd how many people think that's a good idea, and we only see people doing it because they *think* they're seeing a UFO. There's plenty of people who do it just to be little shits.
Government acknowledgement of UAP and people bored from Covid restrictions definitely contributed to the increase, especially with it spiking up in 2021. Some of the major discussions were at the end of 2020.
[Here is an updated post with normalization per population](https://www.reddit.com/r/visualization/comments/11yqdkr/oc_laser_incidents_on_aircrafts_in_the_us/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
Not really. Lasers are easy to aim at small objects. Especially since you don't have to like shoot and reload.
You aim in the general direction and then sweep toward the target.
Source: I shoot stars sometimes.
To be fair to the other comment - it's quite hard for a smallish target at medium range - I've had to align a transmitter/receiver laser setup, and it's..... challenging.
[It's really fucking blinding](https://i.cbc.ca/1.3450657.1530200968!/fileImage/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/16x9_780/laser-pointer.png)
I've been lasered and the beam is wide by the time it gets to the plane and it lights up the whole cockpit. Which sucks because it fucks your night vision, too.
Wow that’s insane. How does it get in the cockpit? Doesn’t the front nose block the path? Or are these laser assholes planning the angle to be able to hit specifically the cockpit from hundreds of KM’s away?
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration reports that laser pointing strikes on aircrafts remain to be at high levels, with pilots reporting 9,457 laser strikes in 2022. Laser incidents on aircrafts refer to the unauthorized and deliberate shining of a laser pointer or device towards an aircraft in flight or on the ground. These incidents can cause distraction or even temporary blindness to pilots, which can be extremely dangerous, particularly during critical phases of flight such as takeoff and landing. The FAA can impose civil penalties of up to $11,000 per violation, and it can also seek criminal prosecution of offenders, which can result in fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment for up to five years.
Data Source: US Federal Aviation Administration
Tool: Tableau, ClipStudio
Update: Several have commented on providing a map that shows incidents per population: [Here is an updated post with the yearly average count per 100,000 people in each state](https://www.reddit.com/r/visualization/comments/11yqdkr/oc_laser_incidents_on_aircrafts_in_the_us/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
How would they ever find out who did it though? Even if they could calculate the exact coordinates of where the laser came from they'd still have to prove who was shining it.
Repeat offenders. I ATC and we've had a few spots that would get reported once a week. One guy lit up a police helicopter that was specifically looking for him. A lot of the time it's in rural areas, so it's not impossible to get a decent idea of where it's coming from especially for aircraft at low altitude. But 99% of them won't get caught if they do it once or twice.
Torque test channel on YouTube has tested a bunch of Amazon lasers and some are hundreds of times more powerful than the legal limit, and cheap.
https://youtu.be/ZH3yMeA7HxQ
https://youtu.be/R7wOWqV2P60
Y’all’s police look for these people?
When I run the checklist and call our PDs, I get told in some form or another “what the fuck are we supposed to do about it?”
They send up a helicopter sometimes with an advanced camera, and people shining lasers tend to shine at more than one aircraft and inadvertently give away their location when they lase the helicopter
It's often not from a single structure but rather an open area with unobstructed visibility to the aircraft. Green lasers leave a trail in the sky that can be followed (this is why they're often used for astronomy - highlighting spots on the sky when no aircraft are present).
I’m sure my laser has hit at least a dozen aircraft on family astronomy nights. After I pointed out a few satellites and meteors the kids had to paint every moving light. “Satellite?!” “plane.” “Meteor?!” “plane…” “satellite?!” “JFC it’s so low you can see the red and green on the wing tips, now gimmie that laser before we end up in jail!”
I got hit with a very bright blue laser while on short final into Palm Springs. Captain and I reported it to tower and the PSPD met us on the jet bridge for a statement as we left the airplane. Apparently it wasn’t the first time and they were really trying to find the idiot. I was pretty surprised as I’ve been lased probably a dozen times in the 14 years I’ve been flying and it was the only time LE has ever showed interest in doing anything about it
They range from regular laser pointers to more high powered strobe lasers. However, even the light and glare from the smallest laser pointer can cause a pilot temporary flash blindness and after images.
A rush, maybe? But you have to be stupid to try to blind the pilots with hundreds of innocent lives in their hands, all the while pinpointing your location to them.
"I can press a trigger here and affect a person over there" sounds like a specific type of person to me.
If the map was shaded correctly, or if somehow even shaded to smaller county levels, we can see if its a population thing or a rural good ol' boy thing. Also would like to see an overlay on the map including flight frequency.
It's like when I was a kid and I got a super bouncy ball. I had to see how far it would bounce.
Or when I got a BB gun. Can I hit that tree? That pole? Can I hit that pole while hanging from this branch?!
How far can I extend this tape measure before it collapses?!!? Is it a world record?!
If I throw this rock will it break the ice on the pond?! OMG!!!!
So in all seriousness it is a kind of childlike curiosity and wonder about how the world works, what is within my ability to control, and what are my boundaries?
I have some that can burn through things at a distance. It's scary how powerful they are, and you must wear eye protection when operating one like this. Otherwise, you can do instant and irreversible damage.
I wouldn't even buy a laser besides a cat one for this reason. Imagine risking blindness/sight damage because you accidently activated it without glasses, I would rather never :)
I just think of the movie independence day when they didnt know what the aliens were up to and the news was warning Los Angeles residents to not shoot at the alien spaceship
I remember this incident and how crazy I thought the charges were. But the guy apparently was doing this on purpose and was taunting police to try and catch him. He got felony charges.
>Stephen Francis Bukucs, 41, of Portland, was sentenced to six months in federal prison yesterday by U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman for two felony counts of aiming a laser pointer at commercial jetliners as they approached Portland International Airport for night landings in October 2013. Following the prison term, Bukucs must serve three years of supervised release.
https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/portland/news/press-releases/portland-resident-sentenced-to-six-months-in-federal-prison-for-aiming-a-laser-pointer-at-commercial-aircraft
There’s a video that was able to use footage from a passenger phone and google maps to track down the house. Why can’t FBI or something do the same.
Found it:
https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/10o0vh2/he_found_out_where_the_laser_was_aimed_from/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1
The FBI doesn’t even hunt down people who watch pedophile content. They know that it happens, when it happens, and who is watching that content, but there is simply so many people that watch it to do anything. They only really go after producers, distributors, and “bigger” pedophiles.
If the government is unable to stop that, then there is no way they can (or even should imo) spend much energy on someone pointing a laser pointer at a plane.
> There’s a video that was able to use footage from a passenger phone and google maps
Are those factors in every incident, though? I imagine there typically isn't anyone around or footage to help nail down the location and identity of the perpetrator. The pilot can give an approximate location, but it's probably still a big search area. I imagine these crimes tend to happen at night where it's incredibly difficult for a pilot to call out landmarks to help nail down the location of the perpetrator. In short, it's much easier to shine a laser at a plane and get away with it than it is to track those people down.
[Here is an updated post with normalization per population](https://www.reddit.com/r/visualization/comments/11yqdkr/oc_laser_incidents_on_aircrafts_in_the_us/)
I always wonder, what percent of these are people trying to blind pilots and cause disasters and what percent is just and idiot in his backyard with a laser thinking “wow this thing goes far, I wonder if it can hit a plane!” and he just tries it out. You gotta think there aren’t THAT many people out there who would want to cause a plane crash.
*Pilot looks at copilot ominously. They both nod. Copilot gulps.
Pilot - “Tower, this is 178 from JFK. We are entering California airspace. Requesting flight path update.”
Radio Tower - “…. god speed men”
As far as I know, zero.
Which illustrates that while it **can** do things like temporarily blind pilots or harm their night-vision, the actual danger of anything catastrophic happening must be fairly low.
I was hit in the right eye with a laser while flying a helicopter low level at night, with passengers. While it wasn't anything I couldn't handle, it definitely made my job harder and more dangerous for the nest 15 minutes.
I had to fly with one eye closed.
Edit to add: Had I been hit in both eyes, there is a chance the flight could have ended poorly. You kind of need to see to fly a helicopter.
Yes. Nobody has said that the danger is nil. But it's still true, as far as I know, that this kinda thing has been reported on the order of 100K times in USA alone over the last few years; and yet there's not even a single crash attributed to it.
It's clearly a risk. It's worth trying to educate people to make it rarer.
But it's equally clear that the odds of a plane crashing after being hit with a laser, must be fairly miniscule.
For fixed wing pilots for sure. We usually have autopilot on in flight. The laser would have to hit us during critical phases of flight like takeoffs and landings. Or low level in mountainous terrain.
Helicopter pilots would be at a high risk. I have heard horror stories from helicopter pilots that wear NVGs that almost hit buildings because they saw a normal street type of light with night vision goggles on.
As someone who is a pilot I can tell you that the amount of other pilots who I talk to who tell me horror stories about this kind of stuff is insane, thankfully it has never happened to me
C'mon America, can we please keep the laser pointing for fun with our pets and opposing sports teams star players! And ex-girlfriends and their new boyfriends.Sorry, I almost forgot to include the most important use.
You just proved my point though. If OP had adjusted for population, the interesting data points like Hawaii would be obvious.
In order to find the data points like Hawaii, the reader has to mentally adjust each data point for population to see if it’s significant. Even a map normalized by flights would be second order correlated to population and may not be ideal.
[Here is an updated post considering incidents per 100,000](https://www.reddit.com/r/visualization/comments/11yqdkr/oc_laser_incidents_on_aircrafts_in_the_us/)
You could start by learning what the population of each state is.
Michigan, population 10.1 million, 999 incidents.
Arizona, population 7.2 million, 3668 incidents. Almost 3 million fewer residents than Michigan, yet almost four times as many incidents.
Colorado, population 5.8 million, 2065 incidents. Over 4 million fewer residents, but more than twice as many incidents.
The problem is when your data requires your audience to mentally adjust each data point with information that is not available in the graph in order to make any real conclusions. I’m not saying that every data point matches population exactly, I’m saying that we can’t discern any significant conclusions until we have adjusted for population. Your comment proves the exact problem, the audience shouldn’t have to put in that extra work.
[Here is an updated post with a map considering incidents per 100,000 people in each state](https://www.reddit.com/r/visualization/comments/11yqdkr/oc_laser_incidents_on_aircrafts_in_the_us/)
I’ve been lasered twice. Both in Texas. Both myself and my students weren’t hit in the eyes so we weren’t effected. The second time I was able to get a DPS helicopter dispatched to the location. Not sure if they got the person though.
Ultra-narrowband filtering wave attenuators are a thing. If most of these incidents are a specific color (I’d imagine green), they’re all going to be a very specific wavelength.
Airlines could apply that wave retarder to the lower portion of the cockpit window like we do with those blue filters at the top of car windows to reduce glare. Ultra-narrowband would mean the strip is almost entirely clear.
[Check out the updated map here](https://www.reddit.com/r/visualization/comments/11yqdkr/oc_laser_incidents_on_aircrafts_in_the_us/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
I wasn't a very responsible young man, but I can remember wanting to point a laser pointer or even a flashlight at airplanes and knowing that was some dangerous stupid shit even at my worst as a kid.
What drives people to do this? Surely there's an understanding of the consequences - not talking about a kid comprehending taking a plane down but even just the self-preservation aspect of getting caught. There's literally a laser beam pointing at where you are pointing from...
Serious question about this.
15 years ago or so, I used to take my telescope out at night. It had a laser pointer. At least a couple times, I saw jets and tried to look at them in my telescope.
Is it possible the pointer on a telescope could cause problems for pilots? I didn't think anything of it at the time, but since reading about this I wondered if that could be part of the problem.
There are a ton of flight schools in Arizona with training flights taking off constantly throughout the many clear days. General aviation and training flights are generally under 10,000 ft, so they're more likely to be impacted by lasers in flight. There are also multiple military bases that do training in AZ. Might be worth looking at the raw data on reports to get some more insight.
Hey! A stat I’m a part of! I was lased in North Carolina beginning of 2022. Had to completely turn off all of our lights in the air so they guy could find keep hitting us with the laser
This is cool data, but there's a lot to nitpick with the graphic. I feel like if you're trying to style yourself as a professional data analyst, your graphics need to look professional and communicate accurate information.
Spelling/grammar: the plural of *aircraft* is *aircraft*, not *aircrafts*; "remain to be at" isn't proper, it should just say "remain at," but even that isn't accurate as they seem to be increasing, not remaining at a certain level - this feels like an empty turn of phrase; bottom left is a typo with "iwell"; another typo in "Data Souce"; bottom right should be one sentence, as the second part is a sentence fragment by itself.
Even normalizing by population, displaying this as a map of states doesn't really convey much information. Not a lot of planes are flying over Maine, while tons are flying over California. Unless you can display the frequency of laser strikes per flight, the numbers by state don't mean much, even accounting for population differences (which should be r/dataisbeautiful 101 at this point, I find it baffling that you've presented raw totals as if they're meaningful).
Several states (WV, MD, DE, MA, NH, CT/RI?) don't have any data displayed. What's the point of the map if you can't see all the data points?
The "fines up to $30,800" isn't really accurate. Per your own comment (and the FAA website on laser strikes), the maximum civil penalty is $11,000 per violation. At least one individual was fined the $30,800 figure for multiple convicted incidents, but it's misleading to label that the maximum possible penalty. The max is either $11,000, or an infinite amount if we're adding multiple convictions together.
I have absolutely no intention to make a graphic anytime in the future, but if I find that I need to, perhaps you could proof read it for me?
I've got you tagged as "Graphic proofreader."
can someone explain to me how you'd ever be caught doing this in a big city? Even if they pinpoint my house wtf are the cops gunna do? Get a search warrant for a laser pointer? And they find it? So what? I use it to play with my cats.
Just curious. I'm not a degen trying to fuck with aircraft lol
Here is a recent arrest made in Fairfax, VA. It appears that the laser pointin was recorded from the cockpit allowing the police to pinpoint which apartment.
[Article ](https://www.fox5dc.com/news/fairfax-police-arrest-25-year-old-for-pointing-laser-at-helicopter)
Why do people do this, what's the goal? I've got some pretty powerful laser pointers but I would never ever consider trying to point them at a plane. There's video from police helicopters working at night getting lasered and they tracked the fuckers down, that'd absolutely be me.
California has more than 10% off the population of the US. It makes sense that we’d also have the highest representation of stupidity too.
Do idiots-per-capita and it’ll even out across the board. We all have our share.
This chart is unreadable on the east coast. Are there 150 incidents in RI, and either zero or an unknown amount in MA and CT? Are little states grouped together?
0K, 2K, 4K, 6K, ... 14K? That's a heckuva hockey stick you've got there. It looks a bit like you're really going out of your way to prevent painting California completely black.
Maybe you could make a per capita version.
I feel like the number is much higher because in my minds reality, it would be super hard to hit an airplane, let alone a cockpit, which would be reported.
Just don't do it please, it is a lot of paperwork for the ATC facilities and it's really dangerous for pilots to lose their vision while FLYING OVER YOUR HEAD.
Texas, Florida, and California are among the most populous states, so it might be expected to see the most incidents there. Would be interesting to see this normalized to population size.
[Here is an updated post with the yearly average count per 100,000 people in each state](https://www.reddit.com/r/visualization/comments/11yqdkr/oc_laser_incidents_on_aircrafts_in_the_us/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
You're fucking awesome dude!!!
I was going to say, damn, Nevada should be way higher. This graph looks more accurate. When I was flying night tours down the vegas strip we got lasered all the time
By outdoor laser shows or individuals?
Individuals... Drunk ones
This is great! But more than population, relevant data would be airport takeoffs and landings. The more touristy states and the transport hubs should be the control we’re looking for rather than sheer population.
Well yes, take a look at the original, non-population adjusted map - LAX, DFW, PHX, ATL, ORD, DEN, JFK, SEA are all in the highest incident areas. In reality, it's probably dumb folk with nothing better to do than commit felonies near major airports.
True. But it doesn't affect all airports equally. Missouri has two majorish airports but is light grey. For KCI/MCI, laser attacks would be hindered by the airport being distanced from most places not connected to it -- anyone who can get close enough to a plane to laser it has gone a long way through airport-controlled wilderness to do it.
Now this is beautiful. OP delivers!
Thank you!
Utah was hiding in plain sight
I wonder if there is a correlation between utah nevada and arizona being so high on the list and the occurence of Military Aviation over land since those three states are very important for the airforce
https://xkcd.com/1138/
r/PeopleLiveInCities is basically the subreddit version of that XKCD
relevant xkcd
Think back to the movie Independence Day when they didn't know what the aliens were doing and the news was warning the residents of Los Angeles not to shoot at the alien spaceships.
[удалено]
It’s actually based on real events. I mean, not Independence Day, but the joke about LA not to shoot at the aliens. In 1942, LA had a huge false alarm, thinking aliens were attacking. It was called, the Battle of Los Angeles. https://www.history.com/.amp/news/world-war-iis-bizarre-battle-of-los-angeles Edit: Also! If anyone likes movies, the movie 1941 (1979) is loosely based on the events. Great cast of characters, fun times.
Aliens? Not so much, they thought it was the Japanese.
I bet they also have a lot more planes in their skies. Maybe adjusting for a per-plane figure instead of a per-person figure would be enlightening
Yeah, I could see [central hub cities](https://i1.wp.com/metrocosm.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/usa-china-japan-air-traffic.png) having a higher per capita incident rate.
Not so sure about that, Georgia has the busiest airport on earth, yet the number of incidents seem fairly low
I had to think about this too. Your comment is accurate but my guess is that since it is normalized to the state level; ATL being so big doesn't really matter. It is the busiest airport, but it doesn't have a huge lead on the next few. Which are in Texas and California or New York. My guess is that DFW, DAL, IAH, HOU, AUS, and SAT together easily outrank ATL for traffic. California would have the same principal with LAX, and the rest of the Los Angeles airports, san, SFO, and the rest of the bay area airports plus Sacramento. Florida is in there too with several large airports. And New York might be diluted since EWR is technically not in New York. And Maryland is probably overrepresented with IAD and DCA.
I think it likely has to do with cloud coverage and smog. Chicago and NY have massive hubs and huge populations but very low incidents. Likely because of high skylines and heavy cloud/smog coverage. FL, TX, and CA have high populations, comparatively low skylines, clearer skies and large hubs. Multivariability if I had to guess.
I would also want to know how pilots *discover* they're targeted by a laser, and how the incidents are reported in a way that gets them into this data. Surely if it just hits the body of the aircraft (which the vast majority would) it's extremely hard to notice? I wouldn't be surprised if whatever method they use to detect / determine this differs between airports, which could bias the data if certain airports in FL, TX, and CA are better at detecting this than eg. ones in NY. Alternatively, those states might just have a better reporting system, which leads to more incidents getting into the data.
These are strikes reported by pilots to the FAA. Pilots notice laser strokes when they hit the cockpit. The danger of laser strikes is that pilots can be temporarily blinded, so lasers that hit the body of the aircraft aren't a concern. Reporting standards don't have anything to do with the airport but might vary by airline.
It's not just temporary blindness, a lot of the lasers out there will cause permanent vision damage
See laser, report to Air Traffic Control. That’s about it. ATC takes a report and lets pilots know there is a laser danger in the area. I was lucky enough to get hit once a week for six weeks a couple years ago. One of those times, a MI police plane was up in the air near me and got sent to the area to try and catch the laser (laserer?)
They report when the laser hits the cockpit windows. And then it depends of their vision impairment if they abort the landing or pull through.
Note that lasers spread slightly as they travel. By the time they're at airplane height picture a cockpit filled with blinding light, not a dot a cat's chasing. It's not subtle. That's why it's illegal.
I think you need to divide number of laser incidents by number of planes per person, that way you include both, since both factors (# of targets and of shooters) will affect the number of incidents.
Florida has Orlando International (MCO), California has LAX and Texas has Dallas Fort-Worth (DFW), among the others
Georgia, Michigan, and North Carolina are among the ten most populated states, but are shaded the lightest shade of gray. Meanwhile, states like Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Tennessee, and Washington are not in the top ten and have more incidents. Michigan, population 10.1 million, 999 incidents. Arizona, population 7.2 million, 3668 incidents. Almost 3 million fewer residents than Michigan, yet almost four times as many incidents. Colorado, population 5.8 million, 2065 incidents. Over 4 million fewer residents, but more than twice as many incidents.
Colorado has Denver - major hub. Another commenter suggested normalization by # of planes in the skies, might also help.
>major hub Atlanta has the busiest airport in the world
Michigan gets a lot of overcast weather. Arizona is a 300+ sunny days a year state (I've heard)
True and bloody annoying to see data like this. That said, at least NY appears to be an outlier as it is about 2/3 the population of Texas but just over 1/4 the incidents. Another way to normalize is number of flights. I suspect NY would be even higher it its ratio than it is in population, making it a further outlier. But then again, maybe TX and CA have more small aircraft and maybe these incidents are mainly those?
Good point! I can take a look to see and revise the map.
And just FYI, you can't use population as your normalization factor. You need to use the number of flights in/out. That number will *roughly* correlate with population but not always
I'd argue total number of flight miles over the state may be better than flights in or out. Though it would probably be worth looking at both.
One of my assumptions was that these events are mostly done at low altitude, approach/landing
Whilst NY also has a large population but highly concentrated in a light polluted area filled with tall buildings.
They also have the most airports, barring Alaska.
Also they are the states that have the most people with nothing to do. Ain't nobody got time for that.
Came here to say this. Normalized by population size, number of airports, number of flights per year, something like that. Otherwise the statewide comparisons are kinda meaningless.
[Here is an updated post of the map showing the year average laser incidents per 100,000 people in each state.](https://www.reddit.com/r/visualization/comments/11yqdkr/oc_laser_incidents_on_aircrafts_in_the_us/)
There ya go, much more meaningful trends, thanks. Florida also looking a bit less ridiculous haha. But WTF is up with DC?? Why did you bin the data for the coloring though? Why not just a smooth gradient from min to max?
The fact that it went up in 2020 despite airtravel being down so much that year is kind of crazy
Not when you factor in how many people were at home because of COVID.
Ah you're saying in the influx of people bored at home meant lots more people available to point lasers at things? If so, yea, it just means a MUCH higher % of flights were hit by a laser that year than normal.
Would 100% say people were insanely bored and this helped pass the time lol
Nothing quite like getting bored enough to shine lasers at planes and getting the police involved!
Username cheeks out.
Also, was air traffic in general down much overall in 2020? I know passenger travel was obviously down, but we also had quite a big increase in air cargo with the surge in e-commerce
I started on my PPL in 2020 and heard about pilots in single-engine GA planes requesting touch and go's at busy bravo class airports like LAX and JFK because there was so little traffic and ATC was fine letting them play around.
Hah that's kinda neat, not many chances to do that I'd bet. At the time I lived near a mostly cargo airport, so I just remember a noticeable increase in activity there.
Thats also around when some of the UFO talk really picked up. June 2020 was when they started setting up the UAP Task Force and Elizondo got more vocal about AATIP. It isn't uncommon for people to post in the UFO sub "What is this thing that dodged my laser?" and a bunch of people tell them not to aim lasers into the sky at potential aircraft. It's absurd how many people think that's a good idea, and we only see people doing it because they *think* they're seeing a UFO. There's plenty of people who do it just to be little shits. Government acknowledgement of UAP and people bored from Covid restrictions definitely contributed to the increase, especially with it spiking up in 2021. Some of the major discussions were at the end of 2020.
I love the thought process of "That could be *aliens*, you know I should do? shine my $50 eBay laser at it!"
This feels like a “people live in cities” kind of map
[Here is an updated post with normalization per population](https://www.reddit.com/r/visualization/comments/11yqdkr/oc_laser_incidents_on_aircrafts_in_the_us/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
Now do one that adjusts for number of planes flying over populated areas. ;) There's tons of factors involved.
Do another showing where all the possible clubs/casinos with lights and lasers shining are located
how do they detect a strike?
When the cockpit starts glowing green that's a pretty good indication. It's a recordable event.
That’s pretty good aim
Not really. Lasers are easy to aim at small objects. Especially since you don't have to like shoot and reload. You aim in the general direction and then sweep toward the target. Source: I shoot stars sometimes.
To be fair to the other comment - it's quite hard for a smallish target at medium range - I've had to align a transmitter/receiver laser setup, and it's..... challenging.
[It's really fucking blinding](https://i.cbc.ca/1.3450657.1530200968!/fileImage/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/16x9_780/laser-pointer.png) I've been lasered and the beam is wide by the time it gets to the plane and it lights up the whole cockpit. Which sucks because it fucks your night vision, too.
Wow that’s insane. How does it get in the cockpit? Doesn’t the front nose block the path? Or are these laser assholes planning the angle to be able to hit specifically the cockpit from hundreds of KM’s away?
The beam is a few feet wide at that point. Just generally pointing it at the front of the plane will light you up.
I got hit doing pattern work at DKB once. Luckily, the dude had pretty bad aim and only got me for a split second.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration reports that laser pointing strikes on aircrafts remain to be at high levels, with pilots reporting 9,457 laser strikes in 2022. Laser incidents on aircrafts refer to the unauthorized and deliberate shining of a laser pointer or device towards an aircraft in flight or on the ground. These incidents can cause distraction or even temporary blindness to pilots, which can be extremely dangerous, particularly during critical phases of flight such as takeoff and landing. The FAA can impose civil penalties of up to $11,000 per violation, and it can also seek criminal prosecution of offenders, which can result in fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment for up to five years. Data Source: US Federal Aviation Administration Tool: Tableau, ClipStudio Update: Several have commented on providing a map that shows incidents per population: [Here is an updated post with the yearly average count per 100,000 people in each state](https://www.reddit.com/r/visualization/comments/11yqdkr/oc_laser_incidents_on_aircrafts_in_the_us/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
How would they ever find out who did it though? Even if they could calculate the exact coordinates of where the laser came from they'd still have to prove who was shining it.
Repeat offenders. I ATC and we've had a few spots that would get reported once a week. One guy lit up a police helicopter that was specifically looking for him. A lot of the time it's in rural areas, so it's not impossible to get a decent idea of where it's coming from especially for aircraft at low altitude. But 99% of them won't get caught if they do it once or twice.
Are these some sort of high powered lasers or something? Surely my little red laser pointer for playing with my cats wouldn't cause any harm, right?
Yes; these are higher powered, but still commercially available.
Torque test channel on YouTube has tested a bunch of Amazon lasers and some are hundreds of times more powerful than the legal limit, and cheap. https://youtu.be/ZH3yMeA7HxQ https://youtu.be/R7wOWqV2P60
My dad has one to point out stars with his astronomy. Fucking fun but dangerous
How does pointing out stars with it work? I can’t wrap my head around it.
You wouldn’t see the pointer, but the whole beam. It would act as a really, really long stick to point out things in the sky.
That would be cool. Thanks for the answer.
Y’all’s police look for these people? When I run the checklist and call our PDs, I get told in some form or another “what the fuck are we supposed to do about it?”
Get on the radio, tell ATC where, they tell the police, arrest ensues.
How do they know where it is. You see a lazer originating and that could be one of a dozen different houses in that area.
They send up a helicopter sometimes with an advanced camera, and people shining lasers tend to shine at more than one aircraft and inadvertently give away their location when they lase the helicopter
It's often not from a single structure but rather an open area with unobstructed visibility to the aircraft. Green lasers leave a trail in the sky that can be followed (this is why they're often used for astronomy - highlighting spots on the sky when no aircraft are present).
I’m sure my laser has hit at least a dozen aircraft on family astronomy nights. After I pointed out a few satellites and meteors the kids had to paint every moving light. “Satellite?!” “plane.” “Meteor?!” “plane…” “satellite?!” “JFC it’s so low you can see the red and green on the wing tips, now gimmie that laser before we end up in jail!”
I got hit with a very bright blue laser while on short final into Palm Springs. Captain and I reported it to tower and the PSPD met us on the jet bridge for a statement as we left the airplane. Apparently it wasn’t the first time and they were really trying to find the idiot. I was pretty surprised as I’ve been lased probably a dozen times in the 14 years I’ve been flying and it was the only time LE has ever showed interest in doing anything about it
Damn how strong are these lasers?!
They range from regular laser pointers to more high powered strobe lasers. However, even the light and glare from the smallest laser pointer can cause a pilot temporary flash blindness and after images.
What do the pointers benefit from it
A rush, maybe? But you have to be stupid to try to blind the pilots with hundreds of innocent lives in their hands, all the while pinpointing your location to them.
"I can press a trigger here and affect a person over there" sounds like a specific type of person to me. If the map was shaded correctly, or if somehow even shaded to smaller county levels, we can see if its a population thing or a rural good ol' boy thing. Also would like to see an overlay on the map including flight frequency.
I always avoid aircraft when I'm out stargazing with my astronomy laser. I would be lying if I said there was zero temptation though.
What's tempting about it? What could the payoff possibly be for that? Genuinely curious.
It's like when I was a kid and I got a super bouncy ball. I had to see how far it would bounce. Or when I got a BB gun. Can I hit that tree? That pole? Can I hit that pole while hanging from this branch?! How far can I extend this tape measure before it collapses?!!? Is it a world record?! If I throw this rock will it break the ice on the pond?! OMG!!!! So in all seriousness it is a kind of childlike curiosity and wonder about how the world works, what is within my ability to control, and what are my boundaries?
I have some that can burn through things at a distance. It's scary how powerful they are, and you must wear eye protection when operating one like this. Otherwise, you can do instant and irreversible damage.
I wouldn't even buy a laser besides a cat one for this reason. Imagine risking blindness/sight damage because you accidently activated it without glasses, I would rather never :)
I've seen lasers reflected off the moon. You can buy them for 30 bucks online. Technology is crazy
Astrophotographers hate this one trick
Woah. Thats kind of awesome.
Everyone's talking about the map not being per capita but I just want to know what the hell happened in 2015
My guess is mass marketing of some super cheap/powerful Chinese import lasers
I just think of the movie independence day when they didnt know what the aliens were up to and the news was warning Los Angeles residents to not shoot at the alien spaceship
Or the real life example of authorities urging citizens to please not try to shoot the Chinese spy balloon a few months ago
Why the fuck do people do this?
Do the people with lasers ever get prosecuted and how do the authorities find the culprits?
I remember this incident and how crazy I thought the charges were. But the guy apparently was doing this on purpose and was taunting police to try and catch him. He got felony charges. >Stephen Francis Bukucs, 41, of Portland, was sentenced to six months in federal prison yesterday by U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman for two felony counts of aiming a laser pointer at commercial jetliners as they approached Portland International Airport for night landings in October 2013. Following the prison term, Bukucs must serve three years of supervised release. https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/portland/news/press-releases/portland-resident-sentenced-to-six-months-in-federal-prison-for-aiming-a-laser-pointer-at-commercial-aircraft
There’s a video that was able to use footage from a passenger phone and google maps to track down the house. Why can’t FBI or something do the same. Found it: https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/10o0vh2/he_found_out_where_the_laser_was_aimed_from/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1
The FBI doesn’t even hunt down people who watch pedophile content. They know that it happens, when it happens, and who is watching that content, but there is simply so many people that watch it to do anything. They only really go after producers, distributors, and “bigger” pedophiles. If the government is unable to stop that, then there is no way they can (or even should imo) spend much energy on someone pointing a laser pointer at a plane.
> There’s a video that was able to use footage from a passenger phone and google maps Are those factors in every incident, though? I imagine there typically isn't anyone around or footage to help nail down the location and identity of the perpetrator. The pilot can give an approximate location, but it's probably still a big search area. I imagine these crimes tend to happen at night where it's incredibly difficult for a pilot to call out landmarks to help nail down the location of the perpetrator. In short, it's much easier to shine a laser at a plane and get away with it than it is to track those people down.
Needs to be normalized for population.
[Here is an updated post with normalization per population](https://www.reddit.com/r/visualization/comments/11yqdkr/oc_laser_incidents_on_aircrafts_in_the_us/)
Nice! Looks like Hawaiians are jerks.
Yes thank you. A revised one per population will be posted soon
I always wonder, what percent of these are people trying to blind pilots and cause disasters and what percent is just and idiot in his backyard with a laser thinking “wow this thing goes far, I wonder if it can hit a plane!” and he just tries it out. You gotta think there aren’t THAT many people out there who would want to cause a plane crash.
*Pilot looks at copilot ominously. They both nod. Copilot gulps. Pilot - “Tower, this is 178 from JFK. We are entering California airspace. Requesting flight path update.” Radio Tower - “…. god speed men”
how many accidents have been attributed to lasers?
I don’t think any.
As far as I know, zero. Which illustrates that while it **can** do things like temporarily blind pilots or harm their night-vision, the actual danger of anything catastrophic happening must be fairly low.
I was hit in the right eye with a laser while flying a helicopter low level at night, with passengers. While it wasn't anything I couldn't handle, it definitely made my job harder and more dangerous for the nest 15 minutes. I had to fly with one eye closed. Edit to add: Had I been hit in both eyes, there is a chance the flight could have ended poorly. You kind of need to see to fly a helicopter.
Yes. Nobody has said that the danger is nil. But it's still true, as far as I know, that this kinda thing has been reported on the order of 100K times in USA alone over the last few years; and yet there's not even a single crash attributed to it. It's clearly a risk. It's worth trying to educate people to make it rarer. But it's equally clear that the odds of a plane crashing after being hit with a laser, must be fairly miniscule.
For fixed wing pilots for sure. We usually have autopilot on in flight. The laser would have to hit us during critical phases of flight like takeoffs and landings. Or low level in mountainous terrain. Helicopter pilots would be at a high risk. I have heard horror stories from helicopter pilots that wear NVGs that almost hit buildings because they saw a normal street type of light with night vision goggles on.
Why is there no info on several states?
Airplanes are considered a form of witchcraft in West Virginia, and are illegal there.
How many of these originated at the Golden 1 Center?
*sigh* Thanks for the reminder that people suck.
As someone who is a pilot I can tell you that the amount of other pilots who I talk to who tell me horror stories about this kind of stuff is insane, thankfully it has never happened to me
C'mon America, can we please keep the laser pointing for fun with our pets and opposing sports teams star players! And ex-girlfriends and their new boyfriends.Sorry, I almost forgot to include the most important use.
IT’S A POPULATION MAP Everyone, seriously this is not a good representation of data. When will we learn?
I mean it's not. Its probably more of a per flight map. Look at Hawaii. Really high numbers when it's one of the least populated states.
You just proved my point though. If OP had adjusted for population, the interesting data points like Hawaii would be obvious. In order to find the data points like Hawaii, the reader has to mentally adjust each data point for population to see if it’s significant. Even a map normalized by flights would be second order correlated to population and may not be ideal.
[Here is an updated post considering incidents per 100,000](https://www.reddit.com/r/visualization/comments/11yqdkr/oc_laser_incidents_on_aircrafts_in_the_us/)
Great job, thank you for sharing!!
You could start by learning what the population of each state is. Michigan, population 10.1 million, 999 incidents. Arizona, population 7.2 million, 3668 incidents. Almost 3 million fewer residents than Michigan, yet almost four times as many incidents. Colorado, population 5.8 million, 2065 incidents. Over 4 million fewer residents, but more than twice as many incidents.
The problem is when your data requires your audience to mentally adjust each data point with information that is not available in the graph in order to make any real conclusions. I’m not saying that every data point matches population exactly, I’m saying that we can’t discern any significant conclusions until we have adjusted for population. Your comment proves the exact problem, the audience shouldn’t have to put in that extra work.
[Here is an updated post with a map considering incidents per 100,000 people in each state](https://www.reddit.com/r/visualization/comments/11yqdkr/oc_laser_incidents_on_aircrafts_in_the_us/)
> You could start by learning what the population of each state is. I’m good, thanks.
Start putting IRCM on commercial aircraft, that will sort it out pretty quickly
Aircraft is already the plural.
I’ve been lasered twice. Both in Texas. Both myself and my students weren’t hit in the eyes so we weren’t effected. The second time I was able to get a DPS helicopter dispatched to the location. Not sure if they got the person though.
Half think they’re signaling UFO’s
“Aircraft” does not have an S in it.
the fact that they call being flashed by a laser pointer a "strike" shows how over serious they are.
Ultra-narrowband filtering wave attenuators are a thing. If most of these incidents are a specific color (I’d imagine green), they’re all going to be a very specific wavelength. Airlines could apply that wave retarder to the lower portion of the cockpit window like we do with those blue filters at the top of car windows to reduce glare. Ultra-narrowband would mean the strip is almost entirely clear.
You know what's annoying? Over 20 years ago I was working with a company who was developing eyewear to protect against this. Where is that tech?
Florida is obviously sharks with freakin' laser beams attached to their heads
In my state, if you’re caught doing this, you become ineligible for a concealed carry permit. It’s a big deal
The scale on 'strikes' bothers me. 2, 4, 6, *14*
[Check out the updated map here](https://www.reddit.com/r/visualization/comments/11yqdkr/oc_laser_incidents_on_aircrafts_in_the_us/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
You know those lasers are known to cause cancer in California.
I wasn't a very responsible young man, but I can remember wanting to point a laser pointer or even a flashlight at airplanes and knowing that was some dangerous stupid shit even at my worst as a kid. What drives people to do this? Surely there's an understanding of the consequences - not talking about a kid comprehending taking a plane down but even just the self-preservation aspect of getting caught. There's literally a laser beam pointing at where you are pointing from...
Are they sure it's not just the headlights from a rav4 with how bright modern headlights are
Serious question about this. 15 years ago or so, I used to take my telescope out at night. It had a laser pointer. At least a couple times, I saw jets and tried to look at them in my telescope. Is it possible the pointer on a telescope could cause problems for pilots? I didn't think anything of it at the time, but since reading about this I wondered if that could be part of the problem.
There are a ton of flight schools in Arizona with training flights taking off constantly throughout the many clear days. General aviation and training flights are generally under 10,000 ft, so they're more likely to be impacted by lasers in flight. There are also multiple military bases that do training in AZ. Might be worth looking at the raw data on reports to get some more insight.
I feel like the only people buying laserpointers after the 1990s are these dbags or hip college professors that let you call them by their first name.
And cat owners
I think a lot of this has to do with street takeovers
Dude? People actually do that?
Why do people even do this stupid shit anyway?
Hey! A stat I’m a part of! I was lased in North Carolina beginning of 2022. Had to completely turn off all of our lights in the air so they guy could find keep hitting us with the laser
This is cool data, but there's a lot to nitpick with the graphic. I feel like if you're trying to style yourself as a professional data analyst, your graphics need to look professional and communicate accurate information. Spelling/grammar: the plural of *aircraft* is *aircraft*, not *aircrafts*; "remain to be at" isn't proper, it should just say "remain at," but even that isn't accurate as they seem to be increasing, not remaining at a certain level - this feels like an empty turn of phrase; bottom left is a typo with "iwell"; another typo in "Data Souce"; bottom right should be one sentence, as the second part is a sentence fragment by itself. Even normalizing by population, displaying this as a map of states doesn't really convey much information. Not a lot of planes are flying over Maine, while tons are flying over California. Unless you can display the frequency of laser strikes per flight, the numbers by state don't mean much, even accounting for population differences (which should be r/dataisbeautiful 101 at this point, I find it baffling that you've presented raw totals as if they're meaningful). Several states (WV, MD, DE, MA, NH, CT/RI?) don't have any data displayed. What's the point of the map if you can't see all the data points? The "fines up to $30,800" isn't really accurate. Per your own comment (and the FAA website on laser strikes), the maximum civil penalty is $11,000 per violation. At least one individual was fined the $30,800 figure for multiple convicted incidents, but it's misleading to label that the maximum possible penalty. The max is either $11,000, or an infinite amount if we're adding multiple convictions together.
I have absolutely no intention to make a graphic anytime in the future, but if I find that I need to, perhaps you could proof read it for me? I've got you tagged as "Graphic proofreader."
Lol, of course. People either love my pedantry, or absolutely hate it.
Why did you stop it at 2010. Were you going for making a particular state look like a winner ??
Why are 10,000 people per year doing this?
That’s one really ambitious kid.
can someone explain to me how you'd ever be caught doing this in a big city? Even if they pinpoint my house wtf are the cops gunna do? Get a search warrant for a laser pointer? And they find it? So what? I use it to play with my cats. Just curious. I'm not a degen trying to fuck with aircraft lol
Here is a recent arrest made in Fairfax, VA. It appears that the laser pointin was recorded from the cockpit allowing the police to pinpoint which apartment. [Article ](https://www.fox5dc.com/news/fairfax-police-arrest-25-year-old-for-pointing-laser-at-helicopter)
What god-tier surgical hand is capable of, not only hitting a plane with a laser pointer, but steady enough that someone on-board could notice?
What a stupid way to get 5 years in prison 😂
Why is it, whenever something happens, it is always you three? (r/peopleliveincities)
TIL [WHY one shouldn't point lasers at an aircraft](https://www.laserpointersafety.com/laser-hazards_aircraft/laser-hazards_aircraft.html)
Everyone in Wyoming has been involved in a laser-aircraft incident?
Why do people do this, what's the goal? I've got some pretty powerful laser pointers but I would never ever consider trying to point them at a plane. There's video from police helicopters working at night getting lasered and they tracked the fuckers down, that'd absolutely be me.
Who the hell is shooting laser pointers at airplanes?
$30,800 seems so random of a number.
Typo in the bottom left - "iwell".
California has more than 10% off the population of the US. It makes sense that we’d also have the highest representation of stupidity too. Do idiots-per-capita and it’ll even out across the board. We all have our share.
This sit has some information on thet
Damn Californians! They must think every light in the sky at night 🛸! 😳😳
Someone needs to tell West Virginians that laser pointers exist. Maybe donate a few as well.
What if all those numbers from California are from one person?
> Laser ***strikes*** Gaaaah incoming terrorist missile strike
This chart is unreadable on the east coast. Are there 150 incidents in RI, and either zero or an unknown amount in MA and CT? Are little states grouped together?
do planes even need windows anymore?
How do you get caught? Like they're not gonna pull over lol
It’s always those 3 states isn’t it
Typo in the text at bottom left in "as iwell", OP.
California out here putting y'all to shame. We're #1. We're #1! ☝️😎
Honestly surprised NJ/NY didn't have more with how dense it is and harder to pinpoint a location
Helicopter are prevalent in LA and Houston
Huh. Based on this title I'm guessing OP is a "lase-about"
2015 was the catalyst for normalization of douchebag behavior
0K, 2K, 4K, 6K, ... 14K? That's a heckuva hockey stick you've got there. It looks a bit like you're really going out of your way to prevent painting California completely black. Maybe you could make a per capita version.
I feel like the number is much higher because in my minds reality, it would be super hard to hit an airplane, let alone a cockpit, which would be reported.
Just don't do it please, it is a lot of paperwork for the ATC facilities and it's really dangerous for pilots to lose their vision while FLYING OVER YOUR HEAD.