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- A Delta pilot reported a laser being pointed at his plane on approach to Buffalo Airport.
- Police couldn't initially find the laser until an annoyed neighbor called them, the complaint says.
- Laser incidents were up 41% last year, with a record 13,304 reported by the FAA.
A 29-year-old could face five years in prison and a $250,000 fine after being accused of aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft, prosecutors said.
In a complaint filed earlier this month, which was viewed by Business Insider, investigators said the man pointed a green laser at a Delta Air Lines flight arriving at Buffalo Airport, New York around midnight on March 1.
It adds that while on approach, the pilot told air traffic control that a laser was being aimed at the jet for 60 to 90 seconds from about a mile south of its position.
Local police searched the area the pilot reported the laser coming from, but couldn't initially find its origin.
About half an hour after the pilot's report, police were called by a man who reported his neighbor was shining a laser into his house. The defendant's parents let the police into their home, where they found a SolidKraft high-powered tactical laser, the complaint wrote.
An Amazon listing for a similar-looking device says the "ultra-visible green beam" can be seen up to 1,000 feet at night.
The neighbor is said to have told police he watched the laser for around 15 minutes, saw it pointed to the sky several times, and has witnessed this happening several times over the past few months.
On Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a reminder on X about laser incidents.
"Shining lasers at airplanes and helicopters puts lives at risk. Laser strikes are also a federal crime," it said.
The FAA said in January that laser strikes on airplanes were at an all-time high last year and that it received more than 13,000 reports from pilots about these incidents — a 41% rise from the year before.