I live near a major airport and see commercial planes with huge front headlights shining in the night sky. What could they be good for way up in the sky, though? I get that when they are taking off/landing headlights are necessary. Why not give them lights like a boat, with a green in front and a red in back?
The big white light is used for landing.
Moreover, while it’s not legally required, most airliner would turn it on when changing altitude, in order to improve other planes siftuational awarness
(I was curious when visiting family living on a hill with a view on the airport down the valley)
There are generally two main sets of lights. Landing and taxi lights. Don’t get all pedantic on me, pilots, about wing, taxi, logo, blah blah.
The taxi lights are usually on the nose gear, and you won’t see them until just before or after landing. Some techniques have pilots turning on the taxi lights when cleared to land as a reminder.
The landing lights are the really bright “high beams” that you see for miles. Most large airlines have these lights on up to or passing down through 18,000 feet, or maybe some other high altitude. The reason they’re on for long periods is for safety and visibility reasons, the time below 18 is the busiest airspace with the most changes in altitude and heading. These large lights are usually in the wings, sometimes there are additional landing lights on the nose gear, or on the aircraft nose on smaller aircraft.
Expired VFR pilot here.
When driving at night a car has lights on the front, sides, and rear. All of them, including the headlights, are present so that others can more easily maintain visual seperation from that car to avoid a collision.
Aircraft have lots of incredible technology and talented air traffic controllers that help keep pilots and passengers safe. But, with a single exception, pilots will ignore everyone and everything to maintain visual seperation.
From one aircraft it’s often hard to see another aircraft, even during the day. There’s lights on aircraft so they can be seen, just like cars.
The exception is a TCAS RA.
Don’t get all pedantic on me, pilots
But that’s like…what they do. It’s what they live for.
Lol, precisely why it’s there.
“Well, at [airline] we [do it a different way]…”
“Well akshully [airplane] has [lights someplace else]…”
The old joke is:
“How do you find out who the pilot is at the party?”
“You don’t have to, he’ll tell you.”
Hmm like vegans
But airplanes are interesting.
Hobby pilot, here. Yup, spot on. But for the most part, the comment you responded to was also pretty much spot on, so I have no complaints.
Can’t speak for any ATPL holders, though, so let’s hope they don’t see this thread.
like a boat, with a green in front and a red in back?
Boats and planes have green at their starboard and red at their board side.
The red zone has always been for loading and unloading, and there is never stopping in a white zone.
Why pretend, we both know perfectly well what this is about. You want me to have an abortion.
Easy to remember:
Red is on the opposite side from Right“No red port left in the bottle”
Red lights are on the Port side which is Left for the nautically challenged.
Left on read
From which orientation?
The pilot’s point of view
The one where red is on the left.
From which orientation?
Straight of course.
red right returning for boats/buoys
And Starboard has 2 R’s which makes it the right.
Working on the ramp we learned “if the red is on the right, you’re in the wrong place.” I.e., planes have the right-of-way over anyone else normally.
*port
E: (Sorry)
Ha, I was going to comment on this.
Boats are also supposed to have white lights at the stern and (if they have one) at the top of the mast.
They’re supposed to keep their lights on under 10000ft. They’re less for the pilots, at least aside from takeoff/landing, and more for other planes.
Idk why that specific configuration was chosen- to pull double duty, I guess? They’re functionally landing lights, but also warning lights if they’re low/in crowded airspace.
I just googled the question, and looked around a bit so it’s possible this is wrong.
It’s probably correct. There has to be some fixed rule. And with airplanes, a lot depends on altitude. They want to be seen. They want to see what’s in front of them during critical phases like takeoff and landing. And probably not switch on and off arbitrary things like lights, just when they’re most busy with other things.
Simple answer: Visibility by other aircraft and ground control. The colors and blink patterns also tell them what orientation the craft is in, though I’ve forgotten the specifics as to what means what; I do remember solid white being the front.
I don’t think the headlights are different colors or blink.
In many general aviation planes, they have a wig-wam setting that alternatively flashes the landing lights during the day.
Red in one wing tip, green in the other
So they can be seen by other aircraft.
That’s what the marker lights are for not the headlights. Also if it’s a commercial plane as it sounds like it is traffic control and transponders kind of do that.
Marker lights? You mean navigation lights, which are green and red lights. The port side of the aircraft has red lights, and starboard is green. This lets you know which side or direction the aircraft is facing. Boats and ships use the same logic. There is also a red flashing light at the bottom of the aircraft called the beacon, which is used to indicate to the ground crews that the engines are running.
The navigation and strobe lights help with being seen. So do the landing lights. It is why the FAA recommends that landing lights are turned on below 10k feet altitude. They aren’t required, but they are recommended so that the aircraft is easier seen at night as well as day. There is literally no other reason to use landing lights prior to turning final. Anything you can do to make your aircraft more obvious to others is an added safety benefit for obvious reasons. A big bright white light does this quite well.
But due to the added safety of increasing your visibility, it is standard for all airlines to have it in their procedure to turn landing lights on as soon as 10k is crossed. Due to company SOP, pilots are therefore required to follow this procedure and it is purely for added safety. This is why you see all commercial aircraft do this, and why you may see non-commercial ignoring this recommendation.
This is coming from someone with years of commercial aviation experience so take it however you’d like.
I was making the assumption that most people didn’t know what navigation lights, port, aft, etc mean and marker lights is just a general term that I hope most people understand. I am lazy and didn’t feel like explaining but you did a good job.
Also if it’s a commercial plane as it sounds like it is traffic control and transponders kind of do that.
airplanes are routinely told to watch for a traffic in their vicinity. also, aviation is all about procedures and backups, so if someone makes a mistake, it is good if there is another link in the chain to prevent accident.
Because they would be useless in the back?
So they can flash them to warn the other planes about the air cops hanging out in the clouds. /s
This is what I found with a quick web search:
Planes only fly with headlights on in scenarios that call for it. Those scenarios include flights that take place in crowded air spaces, when flying below 10,000 feet, and upon takeoffs and landings. It’s also common for pilots to turn on the headlights on their aircrafts when changing flight levels, to help increase visibility to other aircrafts, and in emergency circumstances to communicate with personnel on the ground.
Also the green light is on the right side of the plane, the red light is on the left, and the white lights are at the stern. Same as a boat.
Something further to add here is that planes get a little close at landing and line up in the air as they’re coming in. There’s actually something akin to roads in the sky so the increased visibilty is definitely handy
Most planes do have green and red lights on the tips of their wings.
They also have lights on their front and on their tail. This allows for those looking to see all 4 “corners”.
It’s for identification, navigation, as well as light. You can tell which way a plane is facing/ which way it’s moving, and which side of the plane you’re looking at based solely on the lights and their color. That’s important for night flights. The other commenter is correct that most planes have lights on either side and the lights correspond to the colors standard for that side. So, right side is green, left side is red, etc.
The article below has more information on what the lights do if you’re interested still.
They got green and red on the sides so you can tell what direction they are going. And I would assume big white light in the front is indication of getting out of the fucking way.
