The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City
ENID, Okla. — A captain of the Enid Fire Department accused of pointing a laser into the cockpit of an airplane has been terminated.
An attorney for Capt. Denton Morgan, a 17-year veteran of the fire department, says he will appeal the decision.
A UPS pilot reported Oct. 15 a green laser shining multiple times into his plane as he landed and took off from Enid Woodring Regional Airport, according to a police report. Morgan owns property adjacent to the airport and told investigating officers he was in his pasture medicating cattle with his dart gun, which has a green laser sight attached to it.
“There is no evidence that he pointed it,” attorney Mark Hammons said. “They made him a scapegoat to cover an embarrassing situation.”
The Fire Civil Service Commission held a hearing Monday and voted unanimously to terminate Morgan.
Morgan testified at the hearing that the only people on his property at the time of the report were himself and his wife, and that both used the dart gun with the green laser.
He also told the panel neither he nor his wife intentionally pointed the laser at the plane, but the commission determined the laser couldn’t have accidentally hit the cockpit as many times as it did, according to a commission report.
The commission concluded Morgan violated the fire department’s code of ethics by being dishonest about the incident on his property.
Morgan’s termination was effective immediately. He has been on administrative leave since the incident, Hammons said.
“It is a terrible situation for him. It is a bad situation for the city of Enid, who’s deprived of the services of a very loyal, longstanding employee of the fire department,” he said.
The FBI investigated the pilot’s report, according to an Enid city spokesman. No charges have been filed.
Woodring Regional Airport Manager Dan Ohnesorge said it’s the first time he’s had a pilot report a laser strike.
Pointing a laser at an aircraft is a federal crime punishable by five years in prison. There were nearly 3,900 reports of lasers pointed at aircraft in 2014; 27 reports came from Oklahoma, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. No injuries were reported.
The beam of light from a laser can travel more than a mile and illuminate a cockpit, temporarily blinding the pilot, according to the FBI.
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