Guilty pleas to laser strike charges on tourist biplane a ‘good result’

Tuesday, 14 April 2026

A still shot of one of the videos taken by Chris Rudge as the laser strikes his aircraft in the Twizel area.

Guilty pleas to two charges of using a “high-powered” laser on a tourist biplane flying near Twizel are a “good result” for the pilot affected on each occasion.

Twizel engineer Dean Charles Smith, 61, admitted two charges of shining the laser at a Grumman Ag-Cat biplane “in a manner that caused unnecessary danger” to the pilot, on January 4 and January 18, in the Timaru District Court on Tuesday .

The pilot, and aircraft owner Chris Rudge, told The Timaru Herald that such incidents had never happened to him before in his 42-year flying career.

“(The first) was certainly a surprise initially, and a shock … you don’t know what the outcome is going to be, and whether it’s going to affect you, and your ability to control the aircraft.

“We were just flying a standard flight path that I’ve been doing for 15 years.

One of two Grumman AG-Cat planes operated by Red Cat Biplane Flights from the Pukaki Airport on the outskirts of Twizel. Rudge was flying the company’s yellow biplane when the laser strikes occurred. (File photo)

“I initially saw a light, thought it was a reflection off possibly a skylight, or something like that, you know a person closing a skylight, and then within a split second realised that it was much more powerful than that, and we got hit with this laser.

“It struck me, straight away because it was blue. I never knew that blue lasers existed.

“Most of the ones you hear about are, green or red, and at night-time, and this was intense. We’re talking about looking like an arc welder flash, you know, from a distance of 200m away. So very, very strong, very powerful.”

Rudge, the owner of Red Cat Biplane Flights which operates from Pukaki Airport, said adrenaline kicked in and he started assessing whether his eyesight had been damaged or affected and the fact he was carrying two passengers.

“Your heart rate’s up and then, yeah, I was actually closing my eyes individually to see if there was any effect on my eyesight.

Red Cat Biplane Flights owner and pilot Chris Rudge says he is shocked to think that powerful lasers can actually be imported into New Zealand, and then used on an aircraft. (File photo)

“Fortunately I had the good sense to know to look away, but you could certainly see the laser, through peripheral vision.”

He filed reports with the Civil Aviation Authority, police and Airways Corporation to warn other flights.

Rudge said both strikes were about 40 seconds long, and during the second one (14 days later) he knew not to look at the laser, but was fortunate enough to record it on video.

“But even at that time, I had absolutely no idea how powerful the laser that was used was.”

Rudge said police told him that the laser recovered after a raid on a Twizel property was 7 watts, which he claimed was 7000 times more powerful than that allowed in New Zealand.

“They can cause permanent eye damage up to 700m.

“If you think about a plane flying over a house in a rural area, it’s allowed down to 500ft, that’s 153m and you are well within the permanent eye damage range.

“You can get temporary blindness for up to 2.5 kilometres and I was within those ranges on the first flight which was within 1km and the second flight 2kms.

“From my research, you would see it easily from the International Space Station 400kms out.”

A bi-plane piloted by Chris Rudge circles Aoraki/Mt Cook as part of a reneactment of the first flight over the mountain 100 years ago on September 8, 1920. (File photo)

Rudge said he was shocked to think something like that can actually be imported into New Zealand, and then used on an aircraft.

“… the outcome of that is potentially very, very serious.

“On each occasion I had passengers aboard. Passengers on the first flight saw the laser as well. The second time, the passengers were looking the other direction, during the laser strike.”

Rudge said a photograph police showed him indicated the laser had been modified with a pistol-style grip and a gun site added, making it easier to aim.

“The fact that he’s pleaded guilty, that’s a good result, a very good outcome.

“The evidence was indisputable … there was a video clearly showing the laser plus very clearly showing the property that the laser light was coming from. And the laser was recovered from that property.”

Rudge believed it was the first time someone had been charged with two laser strikes on separate occasions in New Zealand.

“That sets it apart from previous uses of lasers in the country at aircraft … it’s not a nice record to have.”

Smith was convicted by Judge Hermann Retzlaff, and remanded on bail to June 10 for sentencing.