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Strait of Juan de Fuca laser incident

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The Strait of Juan de Fuca laser incident occurred on 4 April 1997, when the Russian merchant ship Kapitan Man was anchored in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) due north of Port Angeles, Washington. Responding to a request based on previous suspicious activity of the ship, the Canadian Forces dispatched a CH-124 helicopter to fly by the ship and take photographs of the vessel and its abnormal aerial antenna structure which was indicative of a ship that may conduct ELINT or SIGINT activities.

Helicopter Crew

On board the aircraft were U.S. Navy LT Jack Daly and Canadian Forces pilot Capt. Patrick Barnes. Lt. Daly was the Navy's foreign-intelligence liaison officer in Esquimalt, British Columbia, heading a joint U.S.-Canadian helicopter-surveillance operation against Russian, Chinese, and other spy ships operating in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which separates British Columbia from Washington state, and in Puget Sound, the site of major U.S. nuclear ballistic missile submarine and aircraft carrier bases.

Laser damage

While taking photographs of the ship and its bridge, LT Daly suddenly experienced intense pain in his right eye as well as temporary blindness. After examination, it was concluded that Daly suffered direct laser burns to his right eye, as well as other vision problems and severe headaches. Captain Barnes was also injured in a similar manner and was permanently grounded as a result of this incident, he has since lost all his flight qualifications. A United States Army Medical Research Department analysis indicated that the crew was most likely hit with a Nd:YAG laser.[citation needed]

Shortly after the incident, Coast Guard teams were given two hours to search the vessel but did not locate a laser. Teams were not given full access to the ship, however, and the Clinton administration had warned the Russian government in advance the ship would be searched. [1]

Clinical assessment

The case was analyzed in the August 2004 Archives of Ophthalmology by medical laser researchers including Dr. Bruce Stuck, then Director of the U.S. Army Medical Research Detachment of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, responsible for the Army Medical Department’s laser and radio frequency radiation biological effects research program.[2] Although the description of "Case 5" did not explicitly state the military nature of the ship photography, the incident described is clearly that of the Kapitan Man.

The researchers noted the case history: “No evidence of laser injury was found in the years after the incident by 17 other ophthalmologists, including 5 neuro-ophthalmalogists and 8 retina specialists. A trial was held 5 years after the incident in which the retina specialist who made the initial diagnosis steadfastly maintained all the photographer’s [Lt. Daly's] symptoms were due to retinal laser injury. A jury ruled against the photographer’s claim for damages against the ship’s owner."

The Analysis section stated that "A costly, time-consuming chain of events was precipitated by the initial retina specialist's (1) failure to attach significance to an association between the photographer's symptoms and his complex past medical history, (2) quick diagnosis of a laser injury, (3) subsequent attribution of the photographer's growing list of pains and visual complaints to a laser injury, and (4) diagnosis of laser exposure in the photographer's associate based on symptoms in the absence of retinal or angiographic abnormalities. As noted previously herein, the few tiny RPE defects on which the initial diagnosis was based are common. Even if these defects were due to threshold laser effects, they could not have caused the photographer's reported problems or millions of patients would be afflicted with similar problems after routine retinal laser surgery.… The patient had real complaints, but they were caused by preexisting autoimmune problems rather than by laser injury.”[3]

Notes

  1. ^ "Navy Man Clinton Hung Out To Dry Gets His Day In Court". Papillonsartpalace.com. Retrieved 2010-07-07.
  2. ^ "ICNERP Members' Biographical Information". Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  3. ^ Mainster, Martin (August 2004). "Assessment of Alleged Retinal Laser Injuries". Arch Ophthalmol. 2004, 122(8): 1210–1217. Retrieved 24 May 2013. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |year= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: year (link)

References

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