VICTORIA -- A B.C. air ambulance flight over Vancouver Island was targeted by what Transport Canada describes as a "deliberate and ongoing laser strike" over the weekend.
The helicopter was on a medical flight from the Nanaimo Harbour to the heliport at Victoria General Hospital on Saturday night when the pilot reported a sustained strike from a green laser being pointed up from the ground.
The strike occurred while the aircraft was on its final approach to Victoria.
No one on the helicopter was injured and there was no damage to the aircraft, according to a Transport Canada occurrence report and the helicopter's operator.
The aircraft involved is a 1995 Sikorsky helicopter owned and operated by Helijet International.
Helijet, which operates B.C. air ambulance flights, says the incident was reported to police.
"They are very dangerous of course because if they do incapacitate the crew, which they could, then of course you’ve got a serious situation," said Rick Hill, Helijet's vice-president for commercial and business programs, on Tuesday.
"I don’t know if the patient was on board or whether they were going there to pick up the patient," he added.
In February, an air ambulance pilot and a paramedic in Ontario both sustained eye injuries when their helicopter was struck by a green laser being pointed from the ground.
Intentionally shining a laser at an aircraft is a crime under Canada's Aeronautics Act. Anyone convicted of such an offence can face fines up to $100,000 and up to five years in prison.
