A record high 9,723 laser strikes on aircraft were reported in 2021, but U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) data on the events is incomplete, according to a government oversight agency that recommends improved data collection and coordinated efforts to educate the public on the illegality of aiming laser beams at aircraft.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said, in a report released in mid-August, that the 2021 laser strike total represented a 42 percent increase over 2020, when 6,852 laser strikes were reported, and a more than tripling of the 2,776 strikes reported in 2010. The FAA and others in the aviation community attribute the increase in part to the increased availability of relatively inexpensive laser pointers in stores and online and the increased power of many laser beams, capable of striking aircraft at higher altitudes.
The FAA considers each event an in-flight emergency because o…
