2 laser incidents involving planes probed by Regina police

Regina police are investigating two incidents involving laser light and aircraft that happened within a few hours of each other.

The first happened just before 11:30 p.m. on Sunday. Police believe someone shone a laser light into the cockpit of a landing plane.

They tracked the light to a roof of a building on the 4000 block of Robinson St. in south Regina.

On the roof, they found five youths — three boys and two girls — and one of the boys had a laser pointer.

Nobody has been charged yet, but police are looking into it.

The second incident happened just before 2:30 a.m. Monday morning. This time the light came from somewhere in the north end of the city and the apparent target was a plane flying over the south end.

No suspects were identified in the second incident. 

Police said it's a federal offence under the Aeronautics Act to aim a directed bright light source into the cockpit of an aircraft in flight as it creates a serious potential threat to aviation safety.

The maximum penalty, if it's an adult being sentenced, is a $100,000 fine and up to five years in prison.

Officials say any such incidents should be reported immediately to the Regina Police Service at 306-777-6500.

Across Canada, Transport Canada reported more than 400 incidents of lasers being used on aircraft in 2013, quadruple the rate from 2009.