Laser attack on Canadian military helicopter injures three

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Three Canadian Forces personnel were injured last year after being targeted by a high-powered laser during a military exercise in Alaska.

A woman from the Alaskan city of Delta Junction has been sentenced to three years’ probation for the incident involving a laser repeatedly being pointed at a Royal Canadian Air Force helicopter, according to a Feb. 20, 2025 news release from the U.S. Justice Department.

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Three of the RCAF crew members on board reported injuries to their eyes during the incident which took place Feb. 11, 2024, the department added.

The woman told police she was angry the helicopter was circling over her home near Delta Junction.

At the time one of two Royal Canadian Air Force helicopters was circling in a holding pattern at a height of around 1280 metres when it was hit by a green laser. Every time the aircraft passed over a certain cabin, it was struck by the laser. As the helicopter started to descend to land at a U.S. military installation, the aircraft was again targeted by a laser, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

One of the aircrew was able to identify the particular cabin where the laser was believed to have originated and police were called. Heide Goodermote, the 49-year-old resident at the house, told law enforcement officers that the aircraft had no right to fly over her property. She admitted to pointing a laser at the helicopter.

Police seized what they identified as a Class IIIB laser. Such a device emits between five and 500 milliwatts of output power and can cause immediate eye damage or skin burns, according to the news release from the U.S. Justice Department and U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alaska.

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Department of National Defence spokeswoman Cheryl Forrest stated in an email that the two Griffon helicopters were from 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron in Edmonton. “The affected CAF members received immediate care, and no serious injuries occurred,” she stated.

The helicopters did not suffer from any mechanical damage, Forrest added.

Goodermote pleaded guilty on Nov. 26, 2024 to a misdemeanor charge of assaulting or impeding certain officers or employees engaged in performing official duties.

“Ms. Goodermote wrongly believed the helicopters had no right to fly over her property and decided to take matters into her own hands by shining a dangerous laser at the helicopters and crew that could have caused serious damage,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Vogel for the District of Alaska noted in a statement. “We are thankful the incident did not result in substantial loss of life or property, but this case should serve as a reminder that putting other people’s well-being at risk when they are performing official duties as part of U.S. government operations, like a joint military exercise with foreign allies, is a prosecutable offense.”

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Both U.S. and Canadian transport officials have warned about an increasing number of incidents where aircraft have been hit by lasers pointed by individuals on the ground.

It’s also not the first time that Canadian aircraft have been targeted. In May 2019, a RCAF pilot decided to abort a flight from CFB Greenwood in Nova Scotia after a laser was shone into the cockpit of the transport plane.

In April 1997, a Canadian Forces pilot and a U.S. officer suffered eye injuries after the helicopter they were in was targeted by a laser fired from a Russian cargo ship.

The Canadian Sea King helicopter was flying near the Russian vessel in U.S. territorial waters off Washington state on April 4, 1997 when the pilot and the U.S. liaison officer on board the aircraft complained of eye pain, the Ottawa Citizen reported at the time. The helicopter was on a routine surveillance patrol and had photographed the ship.

U.S. Navy officials believed the Russian ship was spying on the movements of an American nuclear missile submarine in the Strait of Juan de Fuca at the time of the incident.

Both military members suffered burns to the eyes, according to U.S. officials.

David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, including exclusive content for subscribers only, sign up here: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe

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