Pilots coming in to land at British airports have been forced to hand over the controls to colleagues after being temporarily blinded by laser beams deliberately shone into the cockpit from the ground.
The perpetrators are thought to be using high-intensity laser guns imported from China and Russia which can be bought over the internet for as little as £10.
Police are hunting for the attackers after a number of incidents in the past few months.
A jet approaching the runway: Commercial airline pilots have complained of laser beams being shone into their eyes as they land
The latest was in August when the pilot of a Boeing 737-300 passenger airliner approaching Cardiff Airport at 4,000ft late at night was dazzled by a powerful green light aimed at the aircraft by someone positioned near the runway.
An airport source said a gang of teenagers on a hill about a mile away were believed to be responsible for the potentially deadly prank.
Laser attacks have also been reported at Gatwick, Liverpool, East Midlands and Teesside airports.
The beams involved are far stronger than the laser pens and pointers used widely in the building industry, in school lessons and for business presentations.
Pilots say they are potentially lethal in the wrong hands and that anyone caught aiming one at an aircraft should be jailed.
Targeted: A Boeing 737 - the pilot of one was dazzled by a laser at Cardiff
Dave Reynolds, flight safety officer of the British Air Line Pilots Association, said: ‘There have been dozens of incidents over the past year or so.
‘The first sign that the aircraft has been targeted is when a light-spot starts dotting around the flight deck. It is a serious distraction at a critical phase of the flight and it is something the authorities need to take very seriously indeed.
'We have advised our members to shield their eyes from the light and hand over the controls to a colleague if there’s any doubt about their ability to see the instruments or the flightpath clearly.’
He added: ‘These incidents are an increasing nuisance. Luckily nothing has gone wrong to date but it’s only a matter of time before an accident occurs.
‘The pilot’s ability to see can be impaired by flash blindness and we suggest they go to hospital for a check-up to make sure they have suffered no lasting eye damage.’
Powerful laser devices without safety warnings can easily be bought from internet sites.
A Chinese website offers a high-intensity 200milliwatt laser – 200 times above the UK safety limit – for just £60.
Importing such devices has been banned in Australia after a number of similar aircraft incidents there.
A spokesman for the UK Civil Aviation Authority said: ‘We are investigating a report given to us by a pilot of a passenger aircraft that on August 13 this year a beam of light was shone on him at 4,000ft as he descended into Cardiff International Airport.
‘Once he had made the report, it was immediately handed over to the police for further investigation. We take any threat to aviation safety extremely seriously.’
He warned: ‘Any member of the public shining a light at an aircraft or a helicopter could endanger the safety of the flight, and any person found guilty of such an offence could face a custodial sentence.’
Last night South Wales Police appealed to anyone who has information about the Cardiff incident to contact them.
Meanwhile in Suffolk a man is due to be sentenced next month after he shone a laser light into the cockpit of an RAF Sea King helicopter.
Flight Lieutenant Bob Dewes, who was on a routine training flight, was forced to cover his eyes and return to base after the incident, which police said could have proved fatal.
Glen Porter, 20, of Ipswich, admitted endangering the helicopter last April and is due to be sentenced on October 27.
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