Laser warning
From Mary Snow
CNN
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A recent memo sent to law enforcement agencies warns that terrorists may attempt to use laser beams to try and blind pilots during landing approaches.
Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, who was in New York Friday, signaled there was no specific threat or new intelligence.
"That's nothing more than sharing some information that may be relevant to pilots and may be relevant to the law enforcement community. Nothing more, nothing less," said Ridge.
Ridge says the memo sent out by the FBI and Homeland Security is a way of informing pilots of this potential tactic.
"It was serious enough from our perspective ... a credible enough theory that at least we ought to tell folks we are mindful of it and that you ought to be mindful of it out there as well," Ridge said.
The memo reports the lasers can be easily obtained and can be portable.
In September, a Delta Air Lines pilot reported damage to his retina because of a laser beam shining into the cockpit about 5 miles outside of Salt Lake City.
The Airline Pilots Association says it is one of a handful of incidents that have take place over the last 18 months and are still under investigation.
"We have had a few reports of different types of lasers -- the light entering the cockpit -- whether that has been from a terrorist group or from other groups we are not sure but that's the investigation we are doing," says Capt. Paul Rice of the Airline Pilots Association.
The pilot's union says it's working with government agencies and taking precautions.
Capt. Rice says, "What the public needs to know is there are two sets of eyes at a minimum in every airliner cockpit and so far we have not had any instance where both pilots at the controls have had problems."
