Laser strikes target international flights to New Zealand

International flights coming into land at Auckland, New Zealand's biggest airport, have been hit by laser beams, the New Zealand Police said Friday.

Police were also investigating reports from pilots of laser strike attacks on a domestic flight coming into Wellington Airport.

On Thursday evening, a passenger plane on route to Wellington Airport was targeted with a powerful green laser aimed at the cockpit.

Both pilots suffered headaches and had their vision temporarily obscured as a result of the strike, but the plane later landed safely, said a police statement.

Early Friday, several international flights approaching Auckland Airport were also targeted.

The statement said police were investigating the incidents in both cities and a police helicopter had been deployed when the reports were received to try to pinpoint and track the visual line of the laser.

Anyone caught was likely to face charges such as endangering transport or criminal nuisance.

"Anyone using a laser pointer on an aircraft is putting the lives of those on board in serious danger," Senior Constable Shane Gealey, Tactical Flight Officer, Air Support Unit, said in the statement.

"While to the person pointing the laser, it may just be a little dot of light, whereas for the person on the other end, it is a large illumination that can cause eye damage, flash blindness and headaches."

The flight attendants' union, E tu, condemned the laser strikes as irresponsible and potentially lethal.

"These strikes put everyone at risk, including the pilots, flight attendants and the general public," E tu director of organizing aviation Kelvin Ellis said in a statement.

Last month, an Auckland man was identified and charged with endangering transport and was currently before the courts.

Earlier this week, a Police helicopter was hit by a laser strike over Auckland. Endit