Five pilots targeted by lasers near Brussels Airport

Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Five pilots have been victims of laser lights just before their plane landed at Brussels Airport this weekend, confirms air traffic control Skeyes. The pilots have been targeted by people shining laser lights directly into their eyes when they were flying above Dilbeek in Flemish Brabant and ready to land at Zaventem airport. 

The first attack happened on Friday night at 21.45 while the latest happened on Saturday morning at 2.43. As per DPG Media, a patrol has been sent out immediately but could not locate the culprits.

“They all had a laser pointed at their faces between 20:45 and 02:45,”

Skeyes told the Flemish news paper HLN. 

The pilots stated that the lasers originated from Dilbeek (Flemish Brabant). The local police were informed by the airport police, and the patrol was sent out, but they could not arrest the individuals. Though it is common to see such complaints about lasers being shot towards aircrafts around Brussels Airport, five incidents within a night period is very unusual. Shining lasers on the aircrafts might cause the pilots to become blind or disoriented while landing, which is an offense in Belgium.

“Without the exact location, it’s a hopeless task. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack,”

police commissioner Koen Luppens told HLN.

Why have laser incidents surged across Belgium in 2025? 

As per sources, In 2025, there were 169 cases of lasers pointed at aircraft pilots in Belgium, marking an 80% increase over the previous year, thus breaking a decade-long downtrend. According to Belgian air navigation service provider Skeyes, lasers became the third-most common category of safety-related events in 2025, right after bird strikes and airspace incursions. As most of the laser-pointer cases took place while approaching at night, even a small flash of light could seriously affect the pilot. 

What does Belgian law say about laser attacks?

Under the current Belgian law, laser illumination of aircraft is considered to be a crime and punished with imprisonment. Each case is registered in order to facilitate investigation and law enforcement, and the dramatic yearly increase shows how easily a positive trend can be reversed in one year if no attention is paid to it.

How is aircraft noise affecting communities near Brussels Airport?

Moreover, Last week, some 40 households from Dilbeek, Lennik and Roosdaal expressed their intention to sue the Belgian government regarding very bad cases of noise pollution due to the excessive use of RNP 07L approach route at Brussels Airport, which is an advanced satellite-based approach procedure launched as a temporary test in late April 2025 but extended until October 2026. Acting through Bruegelvogelvrij, a citizen collective, the 42 households believe that the approach route has made a brutal attack on their standard of living, as all the planes are now making approach along the same, direct route overhead their neighborhoods to land on runway 07L. 

As a result, the legal action demands an immediate halt to RNP 07L pending a broadly accepted, final deal on flight routes, especially since Federal Mobility Minister Jean-Luc Crucke has recently set an absolute deadline of 1 October for a political agreement to avert any further court proceedings. In addition, the conflict is strengthened by monitoring and research showing that no less than 96% of flights on the 07L route violate Brussels’ noise standards (and even 100% at night), with noise pollution reaching 80-85 decibels in the area of the route.