Canadian Forces members injured by laser during military flight over Alaska

Two Canadian military Griffon helicopters fly along the shoreline of Baffin Island Tuesday August 26, 2014. (THE CANADIAN PRESS / Adrian Wyld)

Three members of the Canadian Armed Forces were injured last year after their helicopter was targeted with a high-powered laser during a training exercise over Alaska.

A 49-year-old woman from Delta Junction, Alaska, was sentenced last week to three years of probation for the laser attack.

Heide Goodermote reportedly told Alaska state troopers she was angered by helicopters flying over her cabin, saying they had “no right to fly over her property so she pointed a laser at them,” according to a statement from the U.S. district attorney’s office in Alaska.

The targeted helicopter was one of two CH-146 Griffon helicopters participating in the exercise from 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron in Edmonton.

Three members in the affected chopper reported suffering eye injuries following the attack, according to the district attorney’s office.

Department of National Defence spokesperson Alex Tétreault said in an emailed statement that the injured personnel “received immediate care, and no serious injuries occurred.”

Multiple laser strikes

The incident occurred on Feb. 11, 2024, when the Canadian helicopters were flying near Allen Army Airfield outside of Delta Junction.

A pilot in the targeted helicopter told authorities the aircraft was hovering in a holding pattern at around 4,200 feet when one of the crew reported being hit with a green laser.

“The aircraft was orbiting for around 20 minutes and every time they passed over a certain cabin, they got hit with a laser,” the district attorney’s office said.

The helicopter descended to approximately 500 feet in preparation to land at the airfield when it was again hit with the laser. “One of the crew pinpointed the laser to the certain cabin,” the district attorney’s office said.

Anchorage airport traffic controllers contacted the Alaska state troopers, who were dispatched to Goodermote’s cabin.

Laser can cause ‘immediate eye damage’

Police returned to Goodermote’s residence four days later and seized the laser, identified as a Class IIIB laser, which is capable of emitting between five and 500 milliwatts of output and “can cause immediate eye damage or skin burns,” the district attorney’s office said.

Health Canada says Class 3B lasers can emit optical radiation that is 500 times higher than the maximum permissible exposure set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, a scientific body that recommends exposure limits for lasers, microwaves and cellphones.

Class 3B lasers can cause permanent eye injuries even from short and unintentional exposure, the federal agency says.

“Damage can occur from exposure times shorter than the blink reflex or aversion responses (includes motor actions such as averting gaze, pupillary constriction and head movements),” Health Canada found in a 2023 consumer safety report.

“Therefore, exposure cannot be avoided based upon eye blink and/or other aversive actions.”

Woman ‘took matters into own hands’

The Alaska woman pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assaulting or impeding certain officers or employees engaged in performing official duties on Nov. 24, 2024.

“Ms. Goodermote wrongly believed the helicopters had no right to fly over her property and decided to take matters into her own hands by shining a dangerous laser at the helicopters and crew that could have caused serious damage,” assistant U.S. district attorney Kathryn Vogel said in a statement.

“We are thankful the incident did not result in substantial loss of life or property, but this case should serve as a reminder that putting other people’s well-being at risk when they are performing official duties as part of U.S. government operations, like a joint military exercise with foreign allies, is a prosecutable offence.”

National Defence says the affected helicopter did not sustain any mechanical damage from the incident.