THE safety of passengers and crew on board aircraft landing at Gatwick Airport was put in jeopardy at the weekend, following a spate of incidents involving laser lights.

Police scrambled a helicopter with thermal imaging equipment to track the culprits, who shone a red beam of light onto an incoming jet on Saturday just after 11pm.

Dangerous: Safety of crew and passengers was at risk by laser beams directed at planes around Gatwick
DANGEROUS: Crew and passengers were put at risk by laser beams directed at planes around Gatwick

A Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesman described the incident as "very dangerous".

He told the Mirror: "The use of these types of lasers is becoming a trend worldwide, particularly over the last three years. It's a real safety issue in relation to the flight; if you blind or dazzle a pilot of an aircraft it could be very dangerous."

He added: "Most people arrested for this type of incident are mainly people who think it's a laugh."

Airport crew raised the alarm following three separate laser incidents in five days last week.

A few days earlier police had tried without success to find the source of a laser beam aimed at two descending planes.

Officers have traced both incidents to the East Grinstead area.

Similar incidents have occurred at other UK airports, including Heathrow, where a passenger jet was targeted by one of the devices shortly after take-off on the evening of Saturday, July 17.

The CAA said there were two other similar attacks in the area on the same night. Both aircraft were on descent into Heathrow.

The numbers of reported incidents of this type have increased 25 times in only two years.

In 2009 there were a total of 737 attacks with lasers on commercial airliners, air ambulances and police helicopters across the UK, a huge increase on the 29 incidents in 2007.

Captain Bob Jones, head of flight operations at the CAA, said: "Lasers are not toys, they pose a serious risk to all flight safety. I advise individuals who may think shining one of these things at an aircraft is a bit of fun, to think again.

"The chances of getting caught are increasing rapidly and, once caught, criminal charges are now inevitable. Anyone who witnesses a laser being shone at an aircraft should contact the police immediately."