‘INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS’

Minnesota Man Gets Two Years in Prison for Pointing Laser at Airplane

The bright blue light “caused a major distraction in the cockpit,” and temporarily prevented the pilots from reading a set of instructions on their iPads.

Minnesota resident James Link has been sentenced to two years in prison for pointing a laser at a Delta Air Lines plane in 2021, according to ABC News. The plane was flying at 9,000 feet over River Falls, Wisconsin, when the pilots reported three incursions of a bright blue light into his cockpit that “caused a major distraction in the cockpit” and temporarily prevented the pilots from reading a set of instructions on their iPads to change the course of the flight, prosecutors say. The pilots were eventually able to recover, though one captain reported impaired vision for several hours afterward. Link, who has a history of domestic violence, was arrested after proceeding to shine the light at a Minnesota State Patrol plane in behavior the presiding judge called “incredibly dangerous and reckless.”