Laser injures ORNGE chopper pilot, paramedic

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Laser injures ORNGE chopper pilot, paramedic flying over downtown Toronto

Police are investigating after the pilot and paramedic aboard an ORNGE air ambulance helicopter were injured by a green laser beam fired at them from a downtown Toronto rooftop earlier this month.

www.cp24.com

 

[Admiral Beez]

Laser injures ORNGE chopper pilot, paramedic flying over downtown Toronto

Police are investigating after the pilot and paramedic aboard an ORNGE air ambulance helicopter were injured by a green laser beam fired at them from a downtown Toronto rooftop earlier this month.

www.cp24.com

This is inexcusable....putting crew and patients at critical risk. It would seem pilot eye protection is the only course of action, as stopping laser attacks is impossible.

Attacks like this are horrible. But I have to express my annoyance at how those helicopters hover over my backyard in the summer months. Air ambulance is an essential service, but other medical services use much quieter aircraft, such as London’s (UK) Air Ambulance where they use the MD Explorer with the NOTAR anti-torque system's increased safety and far lower noise levels.

https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/nature/upload/GRCA-07-05-SoundLevels-Helicopters.pdf

 

[lenaitch]

This is inexcusable....putting crew and patients at critical risk. It would seem pilot eye protection is the only course of action, as stopping laser attacks is impossible.

Attacks like this are horrible. But I have to express my annoyance at how those helicopters hover over my backyard in the summer months. Air ambulance is an essential service, but other medical services use much quieter aircraft, such as London’s (UK) Air Ambulance where they use the MD Explorer with the NOTAR anti-torque system's increased safety and far lower noise levels.

https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/nature/upload/GRCA-07-05-SoundLevels-Helicopters.pdf

Agree on all counts. That can be a life altering injury. They need to leave a perpetrator's rotting corpse at the palace gate as an example to others.

It would be cool if they can commercialize the protective film and get it certified. I don't know how it would coordinate with night vision equipment but, having said, I don't if, or how much, Ornge uses it.

We can thank former controversial director Mazza for those aircraft. There is some indication they are thinking of selling them because of high fuel and maintenance costs. Ornge probably flies longer distances than many other services and probably need larger cabin space and I don't know what's out there in a larger platform with either a NOTAR or Fenestron (shrouded) rotor.