Reply #9: my wife used to work with them

[lazarus]

she works in fibre optics, doing installations.

The idea of one of these testers blinding someone is very sketchy. Yeah, it likely difracted on the windshield, and the pilot freaked out and reported it, and said he and the copilot were 'blinded'. It might have impaired their vision through the window, for a split second. That's it.

This is another overreaction.

Anything strong enough to actually blind them wouldn't be handheld, and would cost a lot more than $100.