Two teenagers have been arrested over ‘reckless’ laser pen use in Liverpool.
The National Police Air Service helicopter reported that their aircraft was targeted by a green laser in West Derby at around midnight on Friday.
Later, air traffic control at Liverpool John Lennon Airport reported that flights coming into the city’s commercial terminal had also been impacted by it.
The NPAS helicopter later returned to West Derby and identified an address on Haydn Road as the original source of the laser pen.
Two males, aged 16 and 13, from the local area were arrested on suspicion of shine/direct a laser beam into an aircraft and been taken into custody.
Captain Paul Watts, head of flight operations at NPAS, said: “We cannot overstate just how reckless it is to distract a pilot and crew with a laser.
“It not only endangers those in an aircraft but potentially people on the ground too. It is a serious offence.
“Our crews have the ability to pinpoint where a laser strike comes from and will always work robustly with local police forces to ensure those who engage in such dangerous practices are brought to justice before they cause serious harm to others.”