B.C. air ambulance targeted by laser, Transport Canada says
Federal agency report says targeting was 'deliberate and ongoing'
An air ambulance flying over Vancouver Island was deliberately targeted by someone shining a laser from the ground, Transport Canada says.
No one was hurt in the April 18 incident, which was described as "deliberate and ongoing" in a preliminary report released by the federal agency.
The air ambulance was on a night flight from Nanaimo to Victoria General Hospital.
The report says the 1995 Sikorsky helicopter was on its final approach when the pilot observed the green laser.
Helijet International owns and operates the air ambulance involved and the company's vice-president says a police report has been filed.
In 2013, a 30-year-old Langley man who shone a green laser pointer at an RCMP helicopter was charged and given a five-month conditional sentence that included a curfew at night, one year on probation, and a ban on possessing lasers.
Aiming a laser at an aircraft is a federal offence under Canada's Aeronautics Act.
Transport Canada says conviction could result in a fine of up to $100,000 and five years in prison.