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Hawaiian Air confirms Apr.12th laser incident at Pago Pago airport

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — After seeking information from Hawaiian Airlines’ Flight Division staff, airline spokesperson Ann Botticelli confirmed yesterday the laser beam incident fired towards a Hawaiian flight on Apr. 12th.

Botticelli says it took sometime to track down accurate information on the laser incident, about which Samoa News had inquiries. The US Federal Aviation Administration has also told Samoa News that it was investigating this incident.

The airline shared with Samoa News the pilot’s narrative of the incident, where the plane on was final approach on Runway 5, when the laser encounter occurred. The pilot first noticed the green laser beam flashing on aircraft.

“Did not experience any vision problems and [flight] continued approach to landing with no further incidents,” according to the pilot’s narrative.

About 24-hours after the laser incident, the local Department of Homeland Security issued a special bulletin warning that this is a federal offense.

This is the third known laser incident involving Hawaiian for the year 2018, as reported by Samoa News based on news reports.

According to federal law, enacted in 2012, it’s Illegal to aim laser pointer beams at an aircraft or their flight path. Penalty for violating this law is up to 5 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.