A POLICE helicopter was seconds from "disaster" after the pilot was temporarily blinded when a laser pen was "shone at him" from the ground.
It forced the pilot to take "evasive action" over Nelson as he provided air support to the 26-mile pursuit of a silver Ford Mondeo.
The car had failed to stop for officers in Manchester.
advertisement
Police said the laser pen incident could have caused "multiple deaths".
Reader Poll Should laser pens be made illegal?
Yes 58.7%
No 41.3%
A man was arrested after the pilot shielded his eyes and reported the location of a home in Nelson he believed the laser had been shone from.
Police dog teams were sent to the address and made the arrest.
The pilot believed the laser had been aimed at him from a garden, police said.
Force incident manager Simon Atkinson told how the incident unfolded: "A vehicle was pursued by Greater Manchester Police into the Lancashire area.
"The force helicopter turned out to provide some assistance as it was heading through Nelson.
"We believe a man at his home has shone a laser pen at the police helicopter, temporarily blinding the pilot, causing him to take evasive action.
"As a consequence of directions given by the pilot, one of our dog patrols ending up arresting a man from the Nelson area for the unusual offence of endangerment of an aircraft.
"This is not completely unusual.
"I am certainly aware of arrests that have occurred elsewhere in the country.
"This is of a serious nature and there was the potential for a very serious accident with multiple deaths."
Police said the incident had started when the Mondeo failed to stop for police at 9.30pm in Crumpsall, Manchester.
Greater Manchester officers pursued the vehicle down the M66, A56 and M65 to Nelson. Lancashire police provided assistance when the pursuit reached the M66.
Two men were arrested over the pursuit in Nelson - one in Surrey Old Road and the other in Selby Street.
Police said that the pilot was temporarily blinded around 10.30pm.
There have been reports of similar, unconnected, laser pen incidents in Reddish and Stockport.
A Civil Aviation Authority spokesman added: "Unfortunately these incidents do occur and, although they are rare, they can be a safety risk to the aircraft if these people are attempting to distract the eyesight of a pilot.
"I don't think we have seen statistics that show this is an increasing trend but we have data that shows there have been incidents of this kind happening."
Captain Pablo Mason, 57, who has flown across East Lancashire, said hand and eye co-ordination was essential for pilots.
He added: "Sight is a critical facility and during the night time you use the instruments more frequently.
"To become disorientated by a laser could cause a phenomenal disaster. "It would only take a second."
* Christopher Rhodes, 45, of Higate, Nelson, was tonight charged with endangering an aircraft..
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
