British Airways flight attacked by green laser beam moments before landing at London Heathrow
Flight BA759 was targeted by the beam while making its final descent into the London airport from Bergen last night
A BRITISH Airways flight to London Heathrow was targeted by a laser beam as it made its final descent last night.
BA flight 759 from Bergen fell victim to the laser attack at 9.20pm as it prepared to land at the London airport.
It sparked fresh safety concerns as the beams can cause fatal consequences when targeting passenger jets.
Last night's attack is the latest in a string of incidents targeting planes taking off and landing at UK airports this year.
Heathrow is the worst target for laser pen attacks - with Birmingham Airport the second most-heavily targeted as it faces one incident every week.
A former US Navy pilot earlier this year warned an increasing number of such attacks could lead to a "terrible tragedy".
Dr Steve Schallhorn said more needed to be done to educate people on the irreversible injuries caused by laser pens.
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A pilots' union last month called for the lasers to be classed "offensive weapons" after recent figures showed Heathrow pilots were targeted 48 times in the first six months of 2015.
Birmingham suffered 32 attacks in the same time period.
Dr Schallhorn added: "Laser attacks on pilots are exploding and could lead to a terrible tragedy if people continue to target aircraft.
"The problem is I'm not sure people who misuse powerful laser pens actually understand the harmful effect they can have on vision."
He explained sudden exposure to beams during take-off and landing could "seriously distract or disorientate a pilot, causing disruption in concentration or instrument scanning".
The expert added: "When viewed directly, powerful lasers can cause irreversible eye injury by burning the retina."
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said almost 9,000 laser incidents were reported across the UK between 2009 and 2015.
It is illegal to shine a light at an aircraft in flight and a number of people have been jailed for shining beams at pilots in flight.
Nobody on board the aircraft is believed to have been harmed and the plane landed safely at Heathrow.
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