FAA Says Laser Strikes on Aircraft Remain Dangerously High
Pilots reported 12,840 laser strikes to the FAA in 2024, 3% fewer than the 2023 record of 13,304, a level the regulator said was still far too high.
Marius StefanTechnology ManagerPublished Updated 4 min read
The US Federal Aviation Administration said in late March 2025 that pilots reported 12,840 laser strikes in 2024. That was about 3% fewer than in 2023, when reports reached a record 13,304, but the agency said the total remained far too high and repeated its warning that pointing a laser at an aircraft is both dangerous and a federal crime.
The 2024 total was the second highest since the FAA began tracking laser reports in 2010. Pilots have reported 328 injuries linked to laser exposure over that period.
Where the strikes were reported
As in previous years, the most populous states with the busiest airspace produced the most reports. The FAA's 2024 ranking was led by:
- California: 1,489 reports
- Texas: 1,463
- Florida: 810
- Tennessee: 649
- Illinois: 622
The figures are counts of pilot reports rather than confirmed incidents, and a single laser user can be responsible for several reports in one evening if aircraft are lined up on the same approach path.
How the numbers have changed
Laser reports climbed sharply after 2020 and have stayed at roughly double their mid-2010s level. The FAA's annual totals for recent years were:
| Year | Laser strikes reported |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 9,723 |
| 2022 | 9,457 |
| 2023 | 13,304 (record) |
| 2024 | 12,840 |
Cheap, high-output handheld lasers are widely sold online, and many of the devices on the market are far more powerful than the classroom pointers of earlier decades. Green lasers are the most commonly reported, partly because the human eye is most sensitive to green light, which makes the beam appear brighter in a dark cockpit.
Why a laser is a hazard in the cockpit
A laser beam spreads as it travels, so a spot a few millimetres wide at the source can be wide enough to fill a cockpit window by the time it reaches an aircraft a few kilometres away. The light scatters off scratches and imperfections in the windscreen and floods the flight deck.
The effects on crew range from distraction and glare to temporary flash blindness and lingering afterimages that make it hard to read instruments or see the runway. In more serious cases pilots have reported eye injuries. The risk is greatest during approach and departure, when the aircraft is low, workload is high and there is little time to recover from a startle or loss of vision. Helicopter crews, including police and air ambulance pilots who fly low over cities at night, are particularly exposed.
Airlines train crews to look away, shield their eyes, hand control to the other pilot if necessary and report the event to air traffic control immediately. Controllers then warn following aircraft and pass the location to local police.
Penalties and enforcement
Shining a laser at an aircraft has been a federal crime in the United States since the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. Offenders can face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 under federal criminal law, as well as state and local charges.
Separately, the FAA can impose civil penalties of up to $11,000 per violation, and it has fined individuals as much as $30,800 for multiple laser incidents. The agency works with the FBI and local police, who in many cases trace offenders using reports from pilots, helicopter crews and members of the public. The FAA sets out its legal powers on its laser enforcement page.
Why it matters for operators and passengers
For airlines and other operators, each laser report is a safety occurrence that has to be logged and, if a crew member is affected, can lead to a pilot being taken off duty for an eye examination. That has knock-on effects on crewing and schedules, particularly for smaller operators. For passengers the risk is indirect but real: the danger lies in a flight crew being disabled or distracted at a critical moment close to the ground.
The FAA's message in its 2025 update was that the slight fall from 2023 should not be taken as a sign the problem is solved. It continued its public awareness campaigns and asked anyone who sees a person pointing a laser at an aircraft to call local police.
What has happened since
The downward trend continued. In early 2026 the FAA reported that pilots logged 10,994 laser strikes in 2025, a 14% decrease on 2024 and the second annual decline in a row. California (1,309), Texas (1,100) and Florida (654) again topped the state list. The figures are published in the FAA's 2025 laser strike update.
In September 2026 the agency said pilots had reported 4,470 laser strikes from January to July 2026, 24% fewer than in the same period of 2025, putting the country on course for a third consecutive annual fall. California, Texas and Florida once more recorded the most reports. The FAA credits its outreach work for the decline but continues to describe the numbers as too high, and the civil and criminal penalties are unchanged.
