PLANE LASER TERROR: Man Targeted Airport Flights

A man who used a high-powered laser to attack a police helicopter and dozens of commercial flights has been seized after he was tracked down by the FBI.

Police say the suspect - named as Mark Allen Barger, 46 - had been targeting flights coming out of Long Beach Airport, California, USA, for a year.

He is believed to have used the device to disrupt police and commercial flights.

Video footage of one of the attacks on a police helicopter has been released by investigators.

As the 'copter circles, the intense light shines up from the ground right into the cockpit of the police aircraft.

The case was only cracked when the FBI managed to track down the location from where the laser was being used.

The suspect was observed leaving his house and pointing the laser at an aircraft shortly before he was arrested.

He has been charged on one count of felony discharge of a laser at an occupied aircraft and violation of parole, and is now in custody being held without bail.

In a statement announcing the arrest police said: "Over the past several weeks, LBPD officers and detectives have been investigating multiple incidents of a high-powered laser being used to interfere with LBPD’s FOX helicopter, commercial airliners, and private planes within the vicinity of the Long Beach Airport.

"Through their investigation, detectives learned that for nearly one year, an unknown individual would anticipate the arrival of aircrafts, and intentionally use a laser to point towards the cockpit of these aircrafts.

"Through numerous incidents, FOX pilots deduced the general area the laser came from was approximately the 1500-1600 block of Silva Street in Long Beach.

"On January 18, 2023, in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), LBPD detectives conducted an operation in which they observed a male adult suspect exit his residence in the 1600 block of Silva Street, and use a high-powered laser to point at FOX multiple times.

"Following this incident, detectives detained and arrested the suspect and subsequently transported him to Long Beach City jail for booking."

They added: "As a reminder, pointing lasers at any aircraft is a serious offense, can be subject to state and/or federal charges."