EL PASO, Texas -- The FBI said they arrested a Clint man accused of shining a laser at commercial airplanes, and they said the type of laser he used could cause disorientation in the cockpit, including momentary blindness for the pilots.

"It is very strong, it can have a reach of over 1,000 miles, so it's incredibly strong," said Andrea Simmons with the FBI.

The FBI found a class-IIIB laser along with 47-year-old Clinton Udet Pinckert, at his Clint home. The FBI charged Pinckert for Tuesday night's incident, and believe he may be connected to three other flights reporting the same problem.

"One of them was landing at the time, the other three were actually between 34,000 and 38,000 feet when they saw the laser," said Simmons.

"It concerns me, that shouldn't be happening. How is that happening?" said David Yuan, traveling in El Paso from San Francisco, Calif.

Yuan and other travelers KFOX spoke to Wednesday said they feel safer now that the FBI found Pinckert.

"Good. They're doing, so they've stopped him, they've apprehended him, it sounds like a good thing," said Yuan.

"Such a small little light could be detected I guess from wherever, and if it was pointed at the plane I think it's great that they caught him," said Maria Molina, from west El Paso.

Molina, traveling with family, said she hopes others will learn from the arrest.

"I think it gives a warning to other people and I mean kids, they think it's a joke or something to play with, and it's not, it's serious," said Molina.

"The lives of hundreds of people on these four aircraft were potentially at risk, so we want to send a very strong message that it's not OK to be using this in this manner," said Simmons.

The FBI said for attempting to disable a commercial aircraft, Pinckert, if convicted, could face up to 20 years in prison. The FBI said it does not believe that Pinckert has any terrorist ties.