BIRD HITS AND LASER ILLUMINATION OF AEROPLANES AS A THREAT TO AIR TRAFFIC SAFETY

Abstract

After tragic terroristic attacks on Washington and New York on 11th September 2001, growing attention has been paid to safety of air traffic and to protection against terrorist attacks. Nevertheless, despite of the series of steps taken in that direction, some new dangers have emerged, whereas some of the old, already existing ones, have been left unattended in our attempts to protect ourselves against the threats that are now in the focus of interest throughout the world. In this paper we will try to point out the deficiencies in legal regulations of air traffic safety by presenting the problem of bird hits, which has always been a threat to the safety of air traffic, and the problem of laser attacks on pilots as a new threat.