There have been another two cases of laser beams being shone at aircraft flying over Sydney.

The two incidents happened over the course of an hour on the night of March 19, said Cape Breton Regional Police.

Spokeswoman Desiree Vassallo said the department was contacted by Nav Canada, which said a laser was pointed at an air ambulance helicopter leaving Cape Breton Regional Hospital at about 10:40 p.m., bound for Halifax.

The crew reported that the green beam lasted for about 20 seconds.

A similar incident occurred with an Air Canada Jazz flight at 11:30 p.m. The crew said they were approaching the Sydney airport when a laser was flashed into the cockpit four or five times.

Both crews believe the lasers were pointed intentionally at them, said Vassallo.

The two flights proceeded safely. Police officers were sent to the areas where investigators believed the beams were coming from, but they didn't find anything.

Pilots worried

This makes three such laser incidents in Sydney since Jan. 7. There were also three cases reported at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport last October.

Pilots are worried about the blinding, incapacitating beams.

Walter Heneghan, vice-president of safety and quality for Canadian Helicopters, which provides air ambulance service in Nova Scotia, fears a catastrophe will happen.

Heneghan, a pilot, said he only carries a handful of passengers, but companies like Air Canada can transport 200.

"That would be absolutely tragic if a laser event led to something more catastrophic than a fellow losing his eye," he told reporters Wednesday.

He said authorities need to do more to stop people from shining lasers into the eyes of pilots.

The company's choppers have been targeted six times in the last six months, but this is the first time in Nova Scotia.

Paul Vanderbasch has been a pilot for 40 years, the last 15 years with LifeFlight, the air ambulance. He's never been targeted by a laser, but said it could have deadly consequences.

Eye damage permanent

"It's very serious and especially during takeoff and landing when the pilot is reading his instruments. It's nighttime, so therefore, the settings of the cockpit are very low … so the pilot can get his night vision," he said. "And any bright energy light coming into the cockpit would destroy his night vision."

Vanderbasch said the LifeFlight pilot in this incident knew it was a laser and did not look at the light directly.

"He realized right away what it was because he's been reading about these incidents of laser beams being directed at cockpits. He advised his co-pilot not to look out and just keep [his] eyes in the cockpit," he said.

Dr. Ann Hoskin Mott, an ophthalmologist with Capital Health, said it would only take a few milliseconds of exposure to a laser light to cause severe eye injury.

"It's a thermal injury so it would be permanent," she said.

The penalty for aiming a laser into a cockpit is $100,000, five years in prison or both under the Aeronautics Act, according to Transport Canada's website.