Guidance on Mitigation Strategies Against Laser Illumination Effects
- Standard
- ARP6378
- Issued
Downloadable datasets
Annotation
Sector:
Issuing Committee:
Language:
English
Scope
This document is intended to give guidance to users, regulators and persons in the aviation field who may be affected by the potential visual interference effects of lasers aimed at aircraft by the general public. The potential effects include startle (distraction, disruption, disorientation, and operational incapacitation), glare, and flashblindness. This document provides mitigation strategies against such effects, including operational procedures, pilot education, and the use of Laser Glare Protection.
Prevention of harm from laser eye injuries is discussed but is not a focus of this document, due to the extremely low likelihood of injurious levels of laser light in typical aircraft illumination scenarios.
Devices for detecting and reporting hazardous laser illuminations are briefly described in Appendix D, but are not a focus of this document.
Some information in this document may also be useful for non-aviation users, such as persons driving vehicles. Additional information can be found in ANSI Z136.6, “Safe Use of Lasers Outdoors”.
Rationale
The greatest single bright-light concern in aviation today is portable hand-held lasers misused by the general public. Bright laser light aimed at the aircraft during night and dim conditions can interfere with pilots’ vision. There is also a small but finite possibility of laser light causing an injury to pilots’ eyes.
This document provides information about (1) operational considerations, (2) education and training, and (3) whether and how to mitigate these effects using Laser Glare Protection (LGP). In addition, a brief description of devices to locate and report laser illuminations is given in Appendix D.
Stakeholders include: Pilots and aircrews, aircraft operators, public safety managers such as police and medical officials, and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Topic
Data Sets - Support Documents
| Title | Description | Download |
|---|---|---|
| [Unnamed Dataset 1] | ||
| [Unnamed Dataset 2] | ||
| Table 1 | Laser eye protection compared with laser glare protection | |
| Table 2 | Hand-held laser colors reported to FAA, 2017 | |
| Table 3 | Comparing optical density, transmission and attenuation factor | |
| Table 4 | Comparing dye, thin-film and holographic Laser Glare Protection eyewear |
Issuing Committee
G10-OL Operational Laser Committee
The SAE G-10 Aerospace Behavioral Engineering Technology committee focuses on human factors in all facets of aircraft development and operations. It defines appropriate recommendations that could provide cost effective and efficient operation of aircraft (machine) through the use of aerospace behavioral engineering technology. The group is comprised of several subcommittees dedicated to creating, preparing, and maintaining all relevant specifications, standards, and requirements for addressing human factors in aircraft development and operation.
Reference
| Number | Title |
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Revisions
1 versions available
Revision History*
| 2018-06-02 | | | ARP6378 |
* Redlines comparisons are available for those standards listed in the Revision History that contain a radio button. A redline comparison of the current version against a revision is accomplished by selecting the radio button next to the standard and then selecting 'compare'. At this time, Redline versions only exist for some AMS standards. SAE will continue to add redline versioning with ongoing updates to SAE MOBILUS.