Las Americas Airport.-The director of the Specialized Corps of Airport Security and Civil Aviation (CESAC), Emmanuel Souffront Tamayo, revealed that they have received between 10 and 12 reports of pilots affected by laser ray lights during landing at the International Airports of the Americas and Cibao, in Santiago de los Caballeros.
Souffront Tamayo confirmed that 60% of cases have been registered at the Cibao airport, while the remaining 40% corresponds to Las Américas International Airport, José Francisco Peña Gómez.
The director stressed that this type of incident is not only affecting commercial airlines, but also private jets and executive aviation aircraft.
General Souffront Tamayo explained that the pilots have reported that these laser lights seriously affect their vision at the most critical moment of the flight: the approach for landing. Because the command cabin has dim lighting during the night, a sudden flash of laser can cause an alteration in the pupil, affecting the perception of depth and the pilot’s maneuvering capacity.
Although the pilots receive constant training to face these types of situations, the general emphasized that a loss of momentary visibility could force to transfer control of the plane to the co -pilot or even perform a frustrated approach to try a new landing safely.
The use of laser rays against aircraft not only represents a threat to air safety, but also typified as a crime in Law 491-06 on civil aviation of the Dominican Republic, which establishes prison sentences of 2 to 5 years for those who commit this type of actions.
Souffront Tamayo said that state security agencies and aeronautical sector agencies are working on the identification of those responsible, since these attacks come from areas external to airports.
In addition, General Souffront Tamayo urged the pilots to immediately report any incident of this nature that occurs in any of the country’s international airports.
The CESAC and other entities of the aeronautical sector continue to reinforce security measures to prevent these incidents from being repeated and can cause tragedy. The security of hundreds of passengers depends on the responsibility and compliance with current regulations to guarantee a safe aviation in the country.
