Air 1, the Winnipeg Police Service helicopter (HANDOUT / FILE)
A 16-year-old boy has been charged after the Winnipeg police helicopter was struck by a laser light on Wednesday.
Air 1 was on patrol in the area of Salter Street and Selkirk Avenue when a beam of light hit it approximately five times at around 10 p.m. Police say the refracted light filled the cockpit and caused the flight crew to become temporarily disoriented requiring the pilot to make abrupt manoeuvres.
Police tracked the light source to a home in the 300 block of Selkirk Avenue. The teen was arrested and charged with mischief endangering life and projecting a light source into a navigable airspace. Police also seized the laser pointer.
He was released on a promise to appear.
— Staff
