The Federal Aviation Administration said that 11 commercial flights flying over New Jersey reported being hit by lasers between 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Wednesday night, prompting the U.S. aviation authority to launch a probe today into the incident, according to the Economic Times.
The lasers flashed the left and right sides of the cockpits as well as the sides of the planes, officials said. Ten of the flights reported a green laser sighting while one did not specify, according to CBS.
About half of the incidents reported by the FAA were close to Newark Liberty International Airport, while the others occurred elsewhere in New Jersey - from Robbinsville, near the Pennsylvania border, to Ocean City, along the Atlantic Ocean in the southeast corner of the state.
Three American Airlines planes, two from JetBlue and one each from United, Delta and Republic, were among those affected, according to CNN.
The government has made an effort to stop such attacks, whether the intent is malicious or not, with President Barack Obama signing a law in 2012 making it a federal crime to aim a laser pointer at an aircraft.
"When aimed at an aircraft from the ground, the powerful beam of light from a handheld laser can travel more than a mile and illuminate a cockpit, disorienting and temporarily blinding pilots," the Transportation Security Administration notes on its website. "Those who have been subject to such attacks have described them as the equivalent of a camera flash going off in a pitch black car at night."
There was no indication that the 11 latest incidents led to any notable injuries or accidents, in the air or on the ground, but they are part of an alarming new trend. The glaring, green lights could potentially have horrible consequences, leaving a pilot at the plane's controls temporarily blind.
So-called laser attacks aren't unprecedented, and they are on the rise, as handheld lasers become more common and affordable. There were 3,894 such strikes reported in 2014, the FAA says.
