SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Officials said a record number of laser attacks on pilots took place in January with nearly 350 incidents in the United States.
ABC News said if the trend continues, 2013 may mark a record, as well.
Last year, 3,500 cases of laser attacks on pilots were recorded, up from 300 in 2005, the first year the Federal Aviation Administration kept track of the attacks.
In just the past two weeks, two helicopter pilots for KGO-TV, San Francisco, were attacked with lasers.
ABC News said by the time a laser beam gets to the pilot's cockpit, the light becomes a dangerous blinding flash.
"You might think it's funny, you might think it's fun, but it's extremely dangerous," said Solomon Loop, one of the helicopter pilots attacked recently.
Commercial pilots have also been targets and one pilot of a JetBlue flight out of a Syracuse suffered an eye injury in July when a laser was pointed at the cockpit, ABC News reported.
The FAA, FBI and police are attempting to crack down on the perpetrators with infrared cameras, ABC News said.
