The Federal Aviation Administration and law enforcement agencies are investigating 34 laser incidents that pilots reported around the country in one night last week. Shining a laser into an aircraft cockpit is a federal crime punishable by fines or prison time.
Pilots of 10 commercial plans and one Coast Guard aircraft flying over New Jersey said lasers were pointed into their cockpits between 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. July 15, the FAA said.
Additionally, 23 other flights reported similar incidents over Jacksonville, Fla.; Daytona Beach, Fla.; St. Petersburg, Fla.; Pittsburgh; Bellefontaine, Ohio; Indianapolis; Denver; Salt Lake City; Albuquerque, N.M.; Phoenix; Houston; Austin Texas; San Antonio; Oakland, Calif.; Bakersfield, Calif.; and San Jose, Calif., the FAA said.
Laser light can disorient or temporarily blind a pilot. No one was hurt in these cases, the FAA said.
In 2014, airlines reported 3,894 laser incidents in the United States -- a tenfold increase from 2006, the FAA said.