DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A Florida man was recently tracked down after deputies said he pointed a laser at a Brevard County sheriff’s helicopter.

The Palm Bay Police Department was able to locate the man with the laser and charge him with violating Florida statute 784.062, which forbids any person from shining lasers at police officers, people driving cars and pilots flying airplaces. The law makes doing so a third degree felony. 

Florida had 482 pilot laser encounters in 2022 as of the end of November, according to the FAA, the governing body that tracks reported laser incidents with airplanes. That's down from 630 in 2021, and 504 reported interactions in 2020. 

Dr. Bob Thomas has been flying planes for over 20 years. He teaches others how to soar at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

He said a laser pointer as cheap as $8 shining from the ground, up into the sky can completely blind a pilot.

Thomas said once that beam hits the airplane, that the light can fill the entire cockpit with light, and the pilot can’t see.

Last year there were nearly 9,000 reported laser incidents with airplanes across the country. That's similar to the 9,723 reported incidents in 2021, and higher than the 8,765 reported incidents in 2020, according to the FAA. 

"When (airplanes) are coming into land, they think it’s just a harmless little game to play. And beside just distracting pilots when they are landing, they could potentially blind them permanently or temporarily," Thomas said.

Pilot training at Embry-Riddle includes instruction on handling potential laser incidents.

Daytona Beach alone saw 35 laser strikes last year while Orlando had 34.