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48 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, January 27, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 30, 2004 Pilots near landing see laser-like lights By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune A SkyWest pilot and co-pilot reported seeing two laser-like lights in the cockpit while trying to land Christmas night at the Medford airport, prompting an investigation by the FBI. The lights appeared as their United Express plane descended at about 8:20 p.m. Saturday. The FBI offered no explanation for the "unusual" sighting. "It’s just a suspicious event at this point," said Beth Anne Steele, FBI spokeswoman in Portland. The pilots described the light as a laser that entered the cockpit from the chief officer’s window and did not move off the aircraft, said Alison Gemmell, director of marketing and communication for SkyWest Airlines. The pilots reported the event to airport tower personnel, and the FBI was called in as a routine matter of notification, Gemmell said. SkyWest also has filed its own report, she added. Several passengers on the flight from San Francisco also said they saw the light through their porthole windows as the plane was about two miles south of the airport’s runway, Gemmell said. Advertisement The pilots told passengers they were in no danger, and the plane landed safely, she said. The oddity did not disrupt normal business at the airport, Steele said. Laser beams pointed at pilots can adversely affect their eyesight. In September, a Delta Air Lines pilot reported damage to his retina from a laser beam shone at him during a landing in Salt Lake City. A bulletin issued Nov. 22 by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security warned police agencies nationwide that terrorist groups have shown an interest in using laser beams to bring down planes. It is against federal law to intentionally shine a laser beam at a commercial airline flight. Local meteorologists toyed with the possibility that the light in Medford could have been Saint Elmo’s fire, a luminous discharge of electricity into the atmosphere. The phenomenon can be observed during thunderstorms, snowstorms or dust storms as a fiery jet extending from elevated objects, including wings, propellers or other parts of an aircraft. Snow indeed fell at high altitudes late Saturday, said Ryan Sandler, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Medford office. Sandler said he couldn’t pinpoint electrical activity during the storm but couldn’t rule out such an occurrence. The amount of electricity involved with the appearance of Saint Elmo’s fire is not great enough to be dangerous. Steele said federal investigators did not rule out weather as an explanation but would investigate all possibilities. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers