Airservices Australia said the laser beam was pointed at a general aviation aircraft flying over the area at 6.26pm.

The pilot reported the incident to staff at the Albury control tower, who then passed on the information to national headquarters.

Airservices spokesman Rob Walker said the pilot and his plane could have been placed under serious threat, despite the pilot continuing on his journey after the incident occurred.

“It is a serious safety issue,” he said.

“Not only can it (the laser) distract the pilot, if it hits someone in the eye it can blind them, even momentarily, and cause them to crash.”

Mr Walker did not have any details about the plane or its flight destination but said there would not have been any paying passengers on board as it was a non-commercial aircraft.

While such incidents did not occur often, he said air traffic control took the issue very seriously and reported any incidents directly to federal police, who often worked with state police to catch the offenders.

“It can be very hard to track the offenders down, particularly if it is an isolated incident,” Mr Walker said.

“But if it happens on a regular basis we can keep a log of the incidents and help police determine if there is a pattern to the activity and I understand there have been several occasions where the offenders have been caught.

“I’m not an expert but I believe there is legislation banning the importation of strong laser lights into the country and there is certainly action against shining the lights at aircraft.

“We are basically keen that it (shining laser lights at aircraft) doesn’t happen and we work with police to ensure anyone caught doing so is brought before the courts.”

Last night’s incident follows a series of similar laser attacks at Melbourne Airport in May .

Air traffic control had received reports from pilots of people shining high-powered lights into the cockpits of their planes.

Police at the time said the incidents were common.

In Feburary a man was given a 14-month suspended jail sentence for shining a laser at a Qantas flight.