B757 flight crew reports being illuminated by a green laser light on approach to runway 8R at iah. F...

Narrative:

The first officer was flying. On 5 mile final he asked me if I saw a light flashing at us. I looked up and saw a green light on the ground about 3 miles from runway. Thinking it was a laser I told him to look inside the cockpit. A moment later he said; 'oh; that hurt!' I asked him if he had been hit with the laser and he said yes. However he seemed ok and continued to a landing. I reported the hit to tower and then again queried ground control if they received the report. He asked if we were the first or second aircraft reporting and I told him I did not know of another report. When I reported for the return flight in the morning; I checked the iah notams and discovered that they contained nothing about the incident. I called dispatch and requested that they insert a NOTAM detailing the possibility of encountering a laser in the airport vicinity. I am extremely disappointed (but not surprised) at the complete lack of followup or concern; and the nearly complete lack of communication surrounding a potentially lethal attack on our flight operations. It certainly appears that any talk of safety concerns is just that - talk.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B757 flight crew reports being illuminated by a green laser light on approach to Runway 8R at IAH. First Officer experiences eye discomfort after the flight.

Narrative: The First Officer was flying. On 5 mile final he asked me if I saw a light flashing at us. I looked up and saw a green light on the ground about 3 miles from runway. Thinking it was a laser I told him to look inside the cockpit. A moment later he said; 'Oh; that hurt!' I asked him if he had been hit with the laser and he said yes. However he seemed ok and continued to a landing. I reported the hit to Tower and then again queried Ground Control if they received the report. He asked if we were the first or second aircraft reporting and I told him I did not know of another report. When I reported for the return flight in the morning; I checked the IAH NOTAMs and discovered that they contained nothing about the incident. I called Dispatch and requested that they insert a NOTAM detailing the possibility of encountering a laser in the airport vicinity. I am extremely disappointed (but not surprised) at the complete lack of followup or concern; and the nearly complete lack of communication surrounding a potentially lethal attack on our flight operations. It certainly appears that any talk of safety concerns is just that - talk.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	871239
Time
Date	201001
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	IAH.Airport
State Reference	TX
Environment
Flight Conditions	Marginal
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 230 Flight Crew Total 20000 Flight Crew Type 2000
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Events
Anomaly	Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown Inflight Event / Encounter Other / Unknown

B757 flight crew reports being illuminated by a green laser light on approach to runway 8R at iah. First officer experiences eye discomfort after the flight.