Directing a laser at an aircraft in the first degree · as in force on May 31, 2026
§ 240.77 Directing a laser at an aircraft in the first degree.
A person is guilty of directing a laser at an aircraft in the first degree when he or she commits the crime of directing a laser at an aircraft in the second degree in violation of section 240.76 of this article and thereby causes a significant change of course or other serious disruption to the safe travel of an aircraft that threatens the physical safety of the aircraft's passengers or crew.
Directing a laser at an aircraft in the first degree is a class E felony.
Committing second-degree directing a laser at an aircraft under § 240.76 and thereby causing a significant course change or other serious disruption threatening passenger or crew safety is first-degree directing a laser at an aircraft, a class E felony. ★
Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.
This provision appears in Volume 4 — The Court Clerk: Penal Law; Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Court Officer: Penal Law; Volume 3 — Your Career: Penal Law in Plain English.