Homeowner arrested after ‘shining a torch into a plane cockpit from his lawn’ – and the eye-watering jail term he could be hit with

By NICK WILSON FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Published: 13:52 BST, 5 April 2025 | Updated: 13:57 BST, 5 April 2025

An Adelaide local could face more than 15 years behind bars after allegedly pointing a high-powered torch at an overflying aircraft. 

Police arrested the 58-year-old man on the front lawn of his Salisbury home at 7.30pm on Friday after a pilot alerted them to his address. 

The pilot told police someone had intentionally shone a ‘bright light’ towards his aircraft, affecting his visibility. 

Police claimed to have caught the man red-handed in the act of shining the light towards the plane from the front yard of his Copas Drive address. 

A high-powered torch and a Taser were allegedly identified during a subsequent search of his property. 

He was charged with prejudice safe operation of an aircraft and possess dangerous article which can attract a maximum combined jail sentence of 15 years and six months. He was granted bail to appear at Elizabeth Magistrates Court on May 16. 

According to the Australian Civil Aviation Authority: ‘Lasers and high-intensity lights pose a serious risk to pilots that can result in difficulties flying and impaired vision.

‘It takes only a fraction of a second to cause flash blindness or ocular damage, even if the aircraft is travelling quite quickly.’

Pictured is the view from the cockpit of the overflying plane, whose pilot told police his vision had been impacted by the beam (in white) from the high-powered torch

Footage showed the bright light clearly visible from the cockpit (stock image)

Police arrested the 58-year-old after allegedly catching him pointing the high-powered torch (right) towards the aircraft from the front-yard of his Salisbury home (left)

The incident is not the first of its kind in South Australia.

In November 2020, Woodcroft man Mark Andrew Golka, 49, was arrested after repeatedly shining a laser 2000 times the legal strength at a police helicopter. 

The police helicopter was being used to conduct Covid-19 compliance checks during a short lockdown. 

The father-of-two was given a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to an aggravated charge of committing an act likely to cause harm and possessing a prohibited weapon. 

In sentencing the man, Chief Judge of the SA District Court Michael Evans said the act could have had ‘catastrophic consequences’. 

‘If the laser beam had gone directly into the pilot’s eyes, the immediate safety of the aircraft and its occupants would have been compromised,’ the ABC reported. 

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Homeowner arrested after ‘shining a torch into a plane cockpit from his lawn’ – and the eye-watering jail term he could be hit with

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