COMPLETE GUIDE ON LIGHTS FITTED ON THE AIRCRAFT

Complete Guide on Lights On The Airplane

Lights on the airplane serves as a source of notification to other pilots who are also making use of the airport. Light on the airplane are very important such that it can’t be done away with especially at night and also during the day. In my description of lights on the airplane, I will used the airbus A320 for analogy. There are 8 different kinds of lights fitted on the aircraft fuselage. The fuselage is a term used to describe the external body of the aircraft. Let’s starts its explanation from the nose wheel. The first light is the taxi light.

Taxi light: This is an important light on the aircraft fuselage, this light is used for taxiing on the runway and in most aircraft like the A320, its uses up to 150volts of electricity. Its direction is pointed to the middle of the runway line light which illuminates it at night.

Take-off light: This is another important light on the airplane, it’s used by the aircraft crew once they have received permission for take-off after clearance from the ground crew. Immediately it’s turned on. The take-off light is brighter at 600watts for the A320. But may vary in some aircraft. This light is fitted close to the nose wheel landing gear. And it automatically turns off as soon as the landing gear is retracted back to its position after take-off. But the switch necessarily needs to be put in the off position by the pilot after its automatic switching. Note that as the take-off light switches off the switch still remains in the ON position.

Run way turn- off lights:  This is another important light on the airplane that aids to lighten of the runway exit. Its angle of separation from each other is from the range of 130 degrees – 160 degrees.

Wing Scan light: This is another important light on the airplane, this light is used to light up the leading edge of the wing and the engine at night. It aids the pilot to check for fragments of ice on the engine and the wing. Ice on the leading edge of the wing makes it difficult for the pilot to set the wing in a desired angle of attack. If there is presence of ice when the aircraft is on the tarmac, A call for ground de-icing is made but meanwhile before doing that, he turns ON the engine anti-ice system in the cockpit. The anti- ice system on the engine is located in the middle of the front part of the engine, it’s used to provide heat to basic sensors that are situated in the engine of the aircraft and provides information to the pilot in the cockpit. There was a mistake carried out by an incompetent pilot of Air Florida Flight 90   late captain Larry and his crew in the 1980’s, he forgot to turn on the engine anti- ice switch during icy condition of the whether hence took long reach the take-off speed and different readings were provided in the cockpit.  Also the blinking lights on both wings of the airplane enables the plane more visible at night.

Beacon Light: This is another important light on the airplane, on bigger aircraft such as the airbus A320 which has the bright flashing reddish pink light fitted on top of the fuselage, its function is to enable airport users to identify if the plane is been push-back or about to work on  its power. This light is noted in the before start list which is similar to this:

BEFORE START

COCKPIT PREPARATION…………………………………………………………completed/both

GEAR PINS AND COVERS………………………………………………………...removed

SIGNS……………………………………………………………………………………..on/auto

ADIRS……………………………………………………………………………………..nav

FUEL QUANTITY……………………………………………………………………..-kg.lb

TO DATA………………………………………………………………………………….set

BARO REF………………………………………………………………………………..set both

WINDOWS/DOORS………………………………………………………………….close both

BEACON………………………………………………………………………………….on

THR LEVERS……………………………………………………………………………..idle

PARKING BRAKES……………………………………………………………………..as rqrd

This light notifies the ground crew or anyone who’s within the area of the plane that the pilot has received pushback clearance and the plane is moving either been pushed backward or forward. Many aircraft has different varieties of ways to use the beacon light.

Landing light: This is another important light on the aircraft, taking for example, on the airbusA320 these lights are mounted on the bottom of the wing close to the fuselage, it can be retracted by an electric motor. This light is turned on when the pilot has received a landing or take-off permission. They are kept ON till the pilot reaches 10000ft for approach for landing the light is turned back on at 10000ft for proper visibility.

Position light: This is another important light on the aircraft, it’s used for navigation and it’s located at the tip of both wings of the aircraft. The light on the right is the green and the left red. Both has a display angle of 110 degrees and the light placed at the tail section has an angle of 140degrees of display. This light enables other pilot determine the direction of the aircraft.

High intensity light: This is another important light on the aircraft located on the wings and the tail section. They are highly intensified in display and gives double flash in a second. They are turned on when the pilot is on queue for the runway permission to be visible to other planes and turned off once the pilot is out of the runway. They are also called strobe light.

Logo light: This is another important light fitted on the airplane, its located on the tail section of the aircraft pointing towards the logo of the aircraft company designed on it. It’s may be as well used for safety and advertising.

 Always refer to the minimum equipment list(MEL) to verify which lights needs be active, Airlines have different procedure on how and when to make use of the exterior lights of the aircraft. Without lights on the airplane it would be impossible for pilots to understand each other special in a busy airport. And there may be fear of collision between aircraft for lack or improper function on lights on the airplane. 

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