WASHINGTON - Following recent incidents of pilots, in New York airways, encountering lasers, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer called on the Food and Drug Administration today to overhaul the regulations governing the sale and strength of lasers and laser pointers.

Currently, in the United States anyone can buy a laser or laser pointer with little to no restriction. Schumer called for an overhaul in the regulations that controls the strength and sale of laser devices to both decrease the strength of laser pointers and restrict the recreational sale of more powerful lasers. Lasers in United States fall into several categories of strength, but even more powerful lasers are easily purchased online and at retailers. As recent incidents have shown, lasers have the potential to seriously interfere with the operation of an aircraft and actually damage pilots’ eyesight.

“Shining a laser at an aircraft is dangerous and could lead to a horrible tragedy,” said Schumer. “While these incidents seem to be rising, regulations dealing with the power and sale of these products have not kept up. The FDA needs to revamp its regulations to ensure there are greater controls over devices that could inhibit pilots enough to bring down a plane or a helicopter.”

Two weeks ago, a laser was pointed into the cockpit of a JetBlue flight traveling from Syracuse to Kennedy Airport over Islip, causing minor eye damage to the pilot operating the passenger jet. A week and a half ago, in a separate incident, a laser was pointed at a Suffolk County Police helicopter, flying neat Brentwood. According to Federal Aviation Administration statistics, 1,749 laser incidents have been reported this year. Over the last 6 years, the number of incidents of lasers being shined into a cockpit of an aircraft has gone from 283 in 2005 to 3,591 in 2011. A Senate bill was passed into law earlier this year, making pointing a laser at an aircraft a federal crime, but current regulations allow for anyone to buy even some of the most powerful lasers.

Class IIIa lasers, widely known as laser pointers, have output strength of up to 5mW. While laser pointers at one time were primarily used for presentation purposes in boardrooms and classrooms, they are now wildly available at trinket shops, flea markets, and retailers. A 5mW laser, during a perfect night, can be seen up to 2.2 miles and can be a serious distraction at a distance of a quarter mile, roughly 1,300 feet.