2 airliners, Coast Guard helicopter targeted by lasers in Boston

Sept. 23 (UPI) -- The Federal Aviation Administration says it is investigating three incidents in which aircraft over Boston were targeted by a green laser, including a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter.

The helicopter, an MH-60 Jayhawk, was hit by the laser at 8 p.m. Thursday while its crew was conducting a training flight at Massachusetts General Hospital, the Coast Guard told WCVB-TV.

"We just got lazed by an apartment building near Mass General," the pilot said while radioing the incident in. "It was between TD Garden and Mass General ... off the off-ramp in that location."

Earlier in the day, two JetBlue planes were targeted just after 5:30 a.m., the FAA told the Boston Globe.

The pilots for those planes, Flights 494 and 972, also told authorities they had been illuminated by a green laser before landing at Logan International Airport.

According to WCVB, both JetBlue pilots flew a similar path. No injuries were reported in any of the three incidents.

"Aiming a laser at an aircraft is a serious safety hazard that puts everyone on the plane and on the ground below at risk," the FAA said. "It is also a violation of federal law."

Pilots reported 9,457 laser incidents to the FAA in 2022, the agency said in a statement earlier this year. At least 278 pilots have reported injuries from laser strikes since 2010.

People who shine lasers at aircraft can be fined up to $11,000 per incident and up to $30,800 for multiple violations.