Unidentified hooligan tries to blind pilot at Moscow airport

Moscow police said they were searching for a person who tried to blind a passenger jet pilot with a powerful pen laser when the aircraft was taking off from Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow. "The captain of the A320 plane flying from Moscow to Kemerovo said an intense green light was shone into his face at an altitude of 600 meters," a police source said. The hooligan had allegedly been located in Moscow's Novo-Peredelkino district. In June, the Russian air transport regulator Rosaviatsiya noted an increase in cases of pilots being blinded by laser pens during landing at Russian airports, with more than 30 such incidents registered this year. At least three incidents took place near the Domodedovo International Airport last month. A draft stipulating long jail terms for hooligans who attempt to blind pilots and thwart air traffic has recently been introduced in the lower house of the Russian Parliament, the State Duma.