Pilot laser-blinded while landing at Russia’s largest airport

Moscow police said they were searching for a person, who tried to blind with pen laser a pilot as he was landing passenger jet at Russia’s largest airport, Domodedovo.

The type of the aircraft and the number of passengers onboard are yet unknown.

A police team was sent to a street in west Moscow, from where the perpetrator reportedly launched the attack shortly before midnight on Monday.

In June the Russian air transport regulator Rosaviatsiya noted an increase in cases of pilots being blinded by laser pens during landing at Russian airports, with more than 30 such incidents registered this year. At least three such incidents took place near the Domodedovo International Airport last month.

A draft stipulating long jail terms for hooligans who attempt to blind pilots and thwart air traffic has recently been introduced in the lower house of the Russian Parliament, the State Duma.

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