Before I go any further, I am a pilot.
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Final approach and landing is the single most dangerous operation performed by pilots
I have to say I'm surprised about that statement. Here I thought that being on final would set you up nicely for the landing; you'd be already lined up with the runway, most probably well positioned on the glideslope and more or less ready to take anything. Lose an engine and dead-sticking it down shouldn't be a problem.
I'd call take-off the most dangerous stage of the flight. You are just about the leave the runway, if you lose the power too many inexperienced pilots will try to make the "impossible turn" and make it back to the runway they departed. During and immediately after the take-off you don't have altitude, you are usually out of position and have limited number of outs to take if something goes wrong.
"Altitude above you, runway behind you and fuel on the ground don't do you any good."
Now, if you take the lasers into the equations it doesn't change the fact that additional risk is the same in both of the cases. Losing your sight on the take off is just as bad and during the landing - same thing goes for being momentarily distracted. VFR pilots are notoriously bad at maintaining the level flight when the lose sight of the horizon. Controlled Flight Into Terrain is just as deadly no matter whether just after the take off or just before landing. It is still worth remembering that the baseline risk is higher on the takeoff.