DALLAS (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration says three different planes were hit by a laser beam coming from an area near Dallas.
FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford says the incidents happened Wednesday evening. A Southwest Airlines plane, Virgin America plane and private business jet were affected. All three were inbound to Dallas Love Field. Both airliners were coming from Austin.
Lunsford says the laser came from an area 11 miles southeast of Dallas. He says a law enforcement helicopter was sent to investigate.
He says the planes were at altitudes of between 3,000 and 4,000 feet.
An FBI campaign last year targeted the illegal use of laser pointers to distract airplanes. Authorities said at the time that instances of the crime had increased significantly since 2005, when federal officials first started keeping statistics.