There are VERY detailed standards for outdoor propagation of lasers- The ANSI standards explicitly note rules about laser use near airports. There are details that could be useful in evaluating the truth of this claim that the article does not mention... specifically the wavelength/color of the laser and the duration of exposure. Also, the article stated that the pilot suffered a burned retina from the laser but that it wasnt permanent... this seems rather contradictory- I am not an eye doctor but my understanding is if you destroy retina cells the damage IS permanent... (LUCKILY I have no firsthand knowledge on this subject, I think its safest to assume such damage IS permanent and exercise the appropriate care).

IF the pilot was really exposed to a laser then the most likely culprit is a sloppy laser display like they do at concerts, but this exposure would only have been for a fraction of a second- any professional laser show would have taken care to obey the standards and such an incident wouldnt have happened. However given the cost associated with powerful lasers it is hard to believe an amatuer could put on a laser show...

IF the exposure duration was more than a fraction of a second, then this strongly suggests that it was intentional- this raises further questions... to track the cockpit of a fast moving plane would take very sophisticated equipment. This capability is not available to the guy on the street, and I would venture that it would be a MAJOR challenge even to a well funded terrorist cell... Even given that I have a laser, to modify it to do such a thing would easly run into 6 figures.

There HAS been at least one false claim of a pilot being temporarily blinded by a laser in the past... I am suspicious of this story- it isnt impossible, but it is highly unlikely. It isnt like this is something a precocious kid could do with his allowance money...