Minnesota man gets 2 years in prison for laser strike on jet

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal judge in Wisconsin sentenced a Minnesota man on Friday to two years in prison for aiming a laser at a Delta Air Lines jet in 2021, an act that prosecutors said disrupted the pilots’ efforts to land and putting passengers in “incredible danger.”

James Link, 43, of Rochester, Minnesota, pleaded guilty in January.

Laser strikes on planes and helicopters hit a record in the U.S. in 2021. Pilots reported 9,723 incidents, a 41% jump over the year before, according to Federal Aviation Administration figures. The FAA said it handed out $120,000 in fines in 2021. Violators like Link can also face up to five years in prison.

According to the U.S. attorney’s office in Madison, the pilots of the Delta flight from Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, to Minneapolis on Oct. 29, 2021, reported that their cockpit was lit up three times by a bright blue laser while they were at an altitude of 9,000 feet (2,700 meters) just west of River Falls, Wisconsin. At the time, air traffic control had just instructed them to change runways, which required them to plot a new course to the Minneapolis airport.

“The laser strikes caused a major distraction in the cockpit as they were not able to look at their iPads to brief the new approach,” prosecutors said in a statement.

The pilots were eventually able to chart the new path and land safely, the statement said.

“The first officer did not suffer any disruption to his vision, but the captain said that vision in his right eye was affected for several hours after this event,” prosecutors said.

Air traffic control called a Minnesota State Patrol aircraft, which flew to River Falls. The State Patrol aircraft was also struck by a blue laser. The pilots spotted the suspect and worked with River Falls police, who found Link with a blue laser on his person.

At sentencing, U.S. District Judge William Conley remarked on Link’s extensive criminal record, which included numerous domestic assaults. He also said the behavior was similar to a 2017 arrest when Link shined a flashlight in the eyes of the arresting officer.

“Judge Conley called aiming a laser at an aircraft incredibly dangerous and reckless, and in this case forced the Delta pilots to focus on their temporary blindness which put everyone on the aircraft in incredible danger,” the statement said.