Laser attacks on air ambulances could end in ‘catastrophe,’ chief pilot warns

Yorkshire Air Ambulance’s chief pilot is warning that lasers pointed at helicopters in flight are putting patients at risk and have delayed care on multiple occasions.

According to the UK Civil Aviation Authority, there have been eight laser attacks on emergency helicopters in Yorkshire so far this year. Across the UK, the CAA recorded 94 cases involving emergency helicopters in 2025, and the agency says such attacks occur every month.

Owen McTeggart, a chief pilot with Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said a laser in a landing zone can force crews to abandon an approach. “If there’s a laser in the location where we want to land, we just can’t,” he said.

The warning comes during Air Ambulance Week, as the CAA and Yorkshire Air Ambulance urge the public to stop targeting aircraft with lasers. The beams can distract pilots and cause temporary or permanent eye damage, and the chief pilot warns that closer to the ground the consequences could be catastrophic.

“If it happened [closer] to the ground there could be permanent eye damage, which is the end of somebody’s career, or worse, a catastrophe,” McTeggart said.

McTeggart said pilots typically experience at least two or three laser events over the winter period. He added that he had been targeted “more times than I care to remember.”

Yorkshire Air Ambulance said two members of its staff have had to take weeks off work in recent years because of temporary eye damage caused by lasers. The charity says the consequences reach beyond the cockpit: when a helicopter cannot land safely, patients wait longer for critical care.

“Somebody’s in their moment of utmost need — delaying care from our doctor and paramedic team is horrendous,” McTeggart said. “Either we can’t land where the patient is, so we’ve got to circle, which costs us money and being charity funded that’s never a good thing. Or we’ve got to find somewhere else to land further away from the patient.”

He concluded: “It could be your loved one, a friend of yours, somebody you care about, it could be the person we’re trying to help — so just don’t do it please.”

Glenn Bradley, the CAA’s head of flight operations, said the attacks must stop. “Every month we see these vital flights potentially disrupted and their pilots subject to long-lasting eye damage,” he said. “Everyone must recognize that this is totally unacceptable.”

Targeting an aircraft with a laser is a criminal offense in the UK. It carries an unlimited fine and up to five years in prison.

The issue is not isolated to Yorkshire. The CAA says laser attacks on air ambulance helicopters happen every month across the UK, with a noticeable rise from fall through spring. For emergency services, even a brief distraction can have outsized consequences because helicopters are often dispatched to accidents, medical emergencies, and remote locations where every minute matters.

Yorkshire Air Ambulance is a charity-funded service, meaning delays and diversions also carry a financial cost. The organization and the CAA are asking the public to recognize the danger and stop aiming lasers at aircraft.

Chief pilot Owen McTeggart stressed that being targeted by lasers ultimately impacts patient care. Photo: Sofía Luis-Hobbs/BBC

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More on this story: Yorkshire Air Ambulance | The UK Civil Aviation Authority