The FBI has recently setup a countrywide Laser Strike Working Group National Initiative to crack down on laser pointer attacks on aircrafts, especially in the wake of the increasing threat of laser pointers targeting the pilots.

The launch of the national initiative by FBI is an indication that the agency considers laser pointer threat to be a serious problem, given the fact that laser pointer incidents have been witnessing a rise of late.

Going by the FBI projections, laser pointer attacks will likely touch a rather disquieting figure of 3,700 - without taking the unreported cases into account - in 2012, as against barely 283 such incidents in 2005. The increase has come despite the fact that there are laws in place, under which any person who purposely points a laser at an aircraft can be sentenced or fined heavily.

With laser pointers in present times becoming cheaper, increasingly powerful and easier to get, pilots have pointed out that laser pointer attacks are not only a distraction, but can also lead to temporary blindness which may result in a life-threatening situation during the aircraft's takeoff and landing.

The proposal of setting up the Laser Strike Working Group National Initiative was forwarded by the FBI's Sacramento Division, which has - after the creation of a work group in 2008 - seen a notable 75 percent fall in laser pointer incidents at Sacramento International Airport.