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Laser Light Shone at American Airlines Pilot Landing at San Diego

A laser light was shone at an American Airlines captain as his jet was about to land in San Diego late Tuesday, officials said.
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A laser light was shone at an American Airlines captain as his jet was about to land in San Diego late Tuesday, officials said.

Flight 563 from Phoenix, Arizona — carrying 168 passengers and six crew — was about five miles east of the Lindbergh Field airport when a green beam lit up the cockpit.

The Airbus A321 landed safely at 9:10 p.m. local time (12:10 a.m. Wednesday ET), the airline said.

It denied reports, which were attributed to airport officials, that the pilot was taken to hospital.

“Upon approach into San Diego … the captain of American Airlines Flight 563 encountered a laser light in the cockpit,” airline spokesman Kent Powell said in a statement. "The crew declined medical attention and there are no reports of injuries from passengers."

San Diego Police Department confirmed the incident.

It was the second laser reported locally in a month, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. On Sept. 30, a SkyWest plane coming from Los Angeles was hit with a laser flash about 10 miles east of Lindberg Field airport.