A 23-year-old man who claims to be studying to be a pilot is facing felony charges after reportedly shining a laser light into the cockpit of a commercial jet as it approached Daytona Beach airport on Sunday.
Gerardo Sanchez was arrested near the airport. He's also accused of shining the laser light at the control tower.
According to NBC affiliate WESH in Orlando, air traffic controllers called police around 10 p.m. to report being hit in the eyes with a green laser. The crew of an inbound American Airlines flight made similar complaints, with the pilot telling police the light was right in his eyes.
Police found Sanchez, who claimed he was enrolled at a local flight school studying to be a pilot, and that he had been playing with the laser.
Sanchez was arrested and charged with pointing a laser light at a pilot and ordered held on $1,500 bond by a Volusia County judge.
It is not known whether Sanchez has hired an attorney.
