Mccarran International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Las Vegas, Nevada 89119
Monday, October 30, 1995 18:10 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The aircraft was climbing through about 4,500 feet agl on a standard instrument departure route when the first officer, who was the flying pilot, said a laser beam swept past the cockpit and he immediately experienced eye pain and was completely blinded in the right eye. After image effects also induced a blind condition in his left eye. He said the total inability to see lasted 30 seconds, and for an additional 2 minutes, he could not focus on or interpret any instrument indications and was completely disoriented in his spatial relationship to the vertical. The captain was not irradiated by the beam and assumed control of the aircraft and continued the climb. Many of the larger hotels in Las Vegas have some sort of outdoor laser light show. Most of these installations have both fixed/stationary (static) beams of relatively high power and 'dancing' beams of lower power which flash about the sky in irregular patterns. Recorded radar data was used to perform a trajectory and vehicle attitude study to determine the relative position of resorts with laser shows to the position and orientation of the aircraft. As the aircraft passed through 7,000 feet, the positions of three resorts relative to the aircraft were all located in the clear vision field of view of the first officer, and at a position of less than 90 degrees relative azimuth from the first officer's eye reference point. One had the shortest three dimensional distance to the aircraft at 4.7 nautical miles, while the other two were at three dimensional distances of about 7 nautical miles. The source of the laser could not be established with certainty. Fifty-one prior incidents of laser irradiations to pilots have been recorded by the Las Vegas air traffic facility over the past 2 years. FAA Order 7400.2D in effect at the time contains guidelines for FAA personnel in the approval process for determination of whether a proposed outdoor laser light display is compatible with navigable airspace. The order defines two areas: the Nominal Ocular Hazard Distance (NOHD); and the Eye Safe Distance (ESD). NOHD is defined as the distance from the point source where the irradiance level in power and area footprint can cause permanent thermal damage to the retina. ESD encompasses all other irradiance exposures where biological damage to the eye should not occur. Approval requires only that the laser beam be classed as ESD in navigable airspace. The approval process does not consider such laser exposure effects as flashblindness, afterimage, startle, and high glare conditions on pilot performance.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The flying pilot's inadvertent exposure to an unidentified ground-based laser beam. A factor in the incident is the lack of appropriate standards by the FAA and FDA for laser light exposure levels to aircrew in navigable airspace.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 10/30/1995
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1810
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City LAS VEGAS
Event State NEVADA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 89119
Event Date Year 1995
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID LAS
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport 260
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1800 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 80
Weather Observation Facility ID LAS
Elevation of weather observation facility 2179
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 50
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 19
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None 96
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 5055
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Nov 1 1995 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 830
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 7 2000 4:39PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N508SW
NTSB Number LAX96IA032
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage None
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Boeing
Aircraft Model 737-5H4
Aircraft Series Identifier 737-5H4
Aircraft Serial Number 24185
Certified Max Gross Weight 120500
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 124
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name FLEET NATIONAL BANK TRUSTEE
Aircraft Owner Street Address 777 MAIN STREET
Aircraft Owner City HARTFORD
Aircraft Owner State CT
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 06115
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name SOUTHWEST AIRLINES, INC.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address P.O. BOX 36611
Operator City DALLAS
Operator State TX
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 75235
Operator Code SWAA
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not Scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code LAS
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1808
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code SAT
Destination City SAN ANTONIO
Destination State TX
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --