FOUR National Guardsmen were yesterday remanded in custody for two days, accused of flashing deadly laser beams into the cockpits of low flying commercial aircraft, police said.
The foursome, aged between 17 and 20, were arrested late on Thursday night and during the early hours of yesterday.
The court heard that the captains of eight aircraft told the Civil Aviation Authority and Larnaca Airport Control Tower that between January and April 8 they had been blinded at 3,000 feet from the ground by beams of green laser light above the villages of Kornos, Kofinou, Anafotia Anglisides, Mennoyia and Dromolaxia.
Larnaca police spokesman Christos Andreou said the young men had been arrested as part of ongoing investigations into recent reported incidences of the misuse of green and red lasers to distract airline pilots as they approached Larnaca airport for landing. The practice is a criminal offense and punishable with imprisonment.
Andreou said the soldiers had been arrested following co-operation with the Civil Aviation Authority in conjunction with information from a witness regarding at least four incidents in the Larnaca district.
“We want to thank citizens for coming forward after hearing about the incidents,” he said.
The CID officer said investigators had assessed the information they had received regarding the source of the laser beams and had pinpointed it back to two separate army camps in Zygi and Kornos in the Larnaca district.
Andreou said Larnaca District police were aware of a total eight reported incidences of laser violations in the districts of Nicosia, Larnaca and Famagusta. Communication Ministry permanent secretary Makis Constantinides said there had also been reports of improper laser use in Paphos and yesterday Limassol police were investigating a similar phenomenon involving a helicopter.
Andreou added: “The investigations are ongoing. The foursome was arrested but there could be more people involved and more devices. There are definitely others because there are other areas [where the laser beams were flashed at aircraft].”
The officer said the soldiers had been caught in possession of the lasers which he stressed had “nothing to do with military equipment”.
“They were their own personal items which they had purchased over the internet,” he said.
Andreou said the lasers were pen-like devices that beamed powerful laser rays in red or green.
He said: “From what it seems they are not criminals. They didn’t realise the severity of what they are doing. Nevertheless it is still a crime.”
Andreou added that ignorance of the law did not mean you could escape the law. If the investigations concluded that the four should be prosecuted then they would be, he said.
During the foursome’s remand hearing the court heard three out of four laser devices had been confiscated and sent for forensic analysis. A fourth laser was still missing.
Investigating CID officer Kyriakos Vassiliou said the four soldiers were arrested for disturbing aircraft on at least four different occasions. Apparently the men have confessed that they purchased the lasers for €40 apiece from one of the suspects who had bought them in Greece, he told the court. Nevertheless police would not confirm whether or not the men had confessed to beaming the planes.
Andreou said the National Guard and military police had been informed about the men’s arrest immediately. No one was yesterday available for comment from the Defence Ministry.
Acting Larnaca police chief Angelos Karatzia said bothering aircraft with laser was “criminal” because the light was blinding and filled the entire cockpit, with the result that it posed problems to the captain during landing.
“We could have had an air tragedy… This phenomenon must be eliminated,” he said.
Karatzia said the police was in continuous contact with the Control Tower and stressed that every effort would be made to stamp out this criminal activity.
Meanwhile the Cyprus Airlines’ Pilots Union yesterday urged the Civil Aviation, police and Attorney-general’s office to take all necessary steps to eradicate such incidences, including the arrest and criminal prosecution of all those who target aircraft with lasers thus directly jeopardising flight safety.
