Mystery beam disturbed pilots of Malaysian Airlines flight landed over Chennai
22 Aug 2015 8:21 AM IST
Source of light may have originated from St Thomas Mount
A mysterious green light, suspected to be a laser beam, almost blinded the pilots of Malaysian Airlines flight that landed at Chennai airport on Thursday night.
Chennai: A mysterious green light, suspected to be a laser beam, almost blinded the pilots of Malaysian Airlines flight that landed at Chennai airport on Thursday night. Based on a complaint from the airlines and ATC Chennai, the airport police tried to track the source of the light, which may have originated from the St Thomas Mount.
The Malaysian Airlines flight MH 180 from Kuala Lumpur carrying 174 passengers and seven crew members landed safely at around 11.50 pm on Thursday. The pilots informed the Chennai ATC as well their airline officials about the incident. “Such beams can blind the pilots for some time and it is not safe, particularly at the time of landing,” the police said.
Unless it’s a serious issue, the pilots would not have reported it to the ATC, the police added. The pilots had told the ATC that they could feel a beam of light targeting them for nearly 30 seconds from the north side of the descent path while landing.
“We could not trace anybody. But we are looking for the source of the beam. Such a thing had happened two years ago when we arrested two construction workers,” the police said. The ATC went on to lodge a written complaint with the airport police.
Based on the complaint, the airport police sent squads to areas around St Thomas Mount areas to find out if anyone was up to mischief with laser beam equipment. “We will keep a vigil on Friday night also,” the police said.
More than two years ago, the police arrested two construction workers for a similar incident after pilots of flights from Dubai and Singapore complained about sudden flashes of red beams directed at landing aircraft.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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