Posted on 03/28/2008 10:14:33 PM PDT by kingattax
A City banker who shone a high-powered torch at a helicopter while it was preparing to land was jailed yesterday after being told that he could have caused a catastrophe by blinding the pilot.
Aldous Voice, 31, beamed the five million candle power lamp from his kitchen window as the helicopter was landing on top of a nearby building on the Isle of Dogs, East London.
The foreign exchange associate director was jailed for four months after Judge Simon Freeland said that it was only the skill of Simon Mitchell, a former helicopter pilot in the Royal Navy, that averted disaster.
Voice admitted endangering the aircraft but claimed that he was using the lamp, which shines a beam for more than five miles, to disperse antisocial people from his estate.
Snaresbrook Crown Court was told that the helicopter was about to land on top of the Vanguard building in October 2006. The helipad often accommodates City figures who want quick access to Canary Wharf.
Toyin Salako, for the prosecution, said: “A bright light was shone into the cockpit; at that time it was dark outside and his cockpit was dimly lit. The light he [the pilot] described was so bright he was unable to see his instruments. He describes that the light into his cockpit made it difficult for him to land the aircraft safely. The light was steady and direct.”
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
At least he wasn’t a Citi banker.
His estate is five miles in radius?
What a stupid twit. Shine the light in his cell 24/7 for the duration of his stay.
What a fool!
Same goes for the idiots shining those laser pointers at planes.
It's as if they are rapidly losing the ability to think and act rationally.
I wonder what a toxicology screen would find in this mans blood?
???? Wouldn't a shotgun have suited his purpose better?
At least the chopper would have been safer.
To quote Red Foreman, “ Dumb - Ass”
To quote Red Foreman, “ Dumb - Ass”
To quote Red Foreman, “ Dumb - Ass”
sorry about the multiple post
red foreman said “dumb -ass” 3 times ?
More to the point is what a cat scan on his brain would reveal.
He did tonight...
lol...he sure did
One step at a time.
If he’s not tanked up on something illicit then run him through the mill to see if he’s cracked.
(...what would a cat scan show..)
Either a walnut size something or a space stuffed to overflowing with $#it.
England, London specifically - likely banned shotguns from the area. Now some good hounds would have been a far better choice.
Agreed. Could it be that we've protected the dregs of society so long that we've tampered with natural selection.
“There’s something terribly wrong with people today.”
I don’t think this is something new. People have been stupid since the beginning of time. There are just more opportunities now for the stupidity to be demonstrated to the entire world.
We used to use a similar light when we beached our cabin cruiser at the lake. It was an unoccupied island, so it caused no harm. We used the light to check for hooligans on the beach before we got to close to the beach.
It was the brightest light I’ve ever seen and you didn’t dare look directly into the beam. I can certainly understand why it would cause problems for the pilot!
We used to use a similar light when we beached our cabin cruiser at the lake. It was an unoccupied island, so it caused no harm. We used the light to check for hooligans on the beach before we got to close to the beach.
It was the brightest light I’ve ever seen and you didn’t dare look directly into the beam. I can certainly understand why it would cause problems for the pilot!
Sorry for the double post. This keyboard just decided to rebel.
It's not the guns that are crazy. It's the people!!
I believe that bull mastifs(sp?) were specifically bred for exactly that purpose.
“he was using the lamp, which shines a beam for more than five miles” I need to get one of those lamps. That story is almost as good as shooting down a 747 with a 50cal.
4 months? They let rapists off with lighter sentences.
That one little bulb is 5,000,000 candle-watt power?
Those things go a long distance?
Oh yes, a LONG way!
Never point one at a car or plane.
And NEVER at a person unless they are a really long way off.
The risk of eye damage up close is just to great.
I wasn in the auto parts store yesterday and they had a big handheld light that was 17 million candlepower.
In case you ever need to jacklight a dinosaur or something.
The unit is for luminance, I don’t think it is directly comparable to the unit Watt.
..........................................................
[Etymology: candle] luminous intensity. Symbol cd. (Metric) The base photic unit.
SI, Metric - The intensity, in a given direction, of a source that emits monochromatic radiation of a frequency 540 THz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction of 1/683 W·Sr-1 (1.11~ hefner, 0.981~ international candle). Hence:
cd·sr = lumen for luminous flux.
New candle (unit of luminous intensity) - The value of the new candle is such that the brightness of the full radiator at the temperature of solidification of platinum is 60 new candles per square centimetre’.
http://www.answers.com/topic/candela?cat=technology
This sort of remark is half the reason I love to read FR.
There hasn't been a lot of action on the Navair front, so I thought I'd ping to this one to let everyone know I am still active. Per the article, the pilot was ex-RN and has some skills.
Click on pic for past Navair pings.
Post or FReepmail me if you wish to be enlisted in or discharged from the Navair Pinglist.
This is a medium to low volume pinglist.
Did any of our small government types notice this little gem? Yes, I know it's not in the U.S., but you get my point don't you?
Ping.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.