Flashing landing lights?

[Potatora]

A couple days ago I saw an airliner coming into Boise, in final
approach, with its landing lights flashing. They were alternating high
beam to low beam (I never knew they had that capability) on the left,
then on the right. left, right, left, right...

What was that all about? Onboard emergency as in sick passenger?

[John Kunkel]

"Potatora" > wrote in message
...
>A couple days ago I saw an airliner coming into Boise, in final
> approach, with its landing lights flashing. They were alternating high
> beam to low beam (I never knew they had that capability) on the left,
> then on the right. left, right, left, right...
>

The flashing lights enhance visibility.

[Potatora]

On Oct 29, 11:41*am, "John Kunkel" > wrote:
> "Potatora" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
> >A couple days ago I saw an airliner coming into Boise, in final
> > approach, with its landing lights flashing. They were alternating high
> > beam to low beam (I never knew they had that capability) on the left,
> > then on the right. left, right, left, right...
>
> The flashing lights enhance visibility.

Well, duh, I guess the would. But why would visibility need to be
enhanced? It was unlimited already, not a cloud in the sky. Why have I
never seen any other airliner doing that?

I am NOT talking about the 'strobe' light, or the red and green
running lights. I'm talking about the *landing* lights, the really
bright ones on the wing.

[Scott Skylane]

Potatora wrote:

>>The flashing lights enhance visibility.
>
>
> Well, duh, I guess the would. But why would visibility need to be
> enhanced? It was unlimited already, not a cloud in the sky. Why have I
> never seen any other airliner doing that?
/snip/

No, he means that the flashing enhances the visibility of the aircraft
to others in the area. The human eye picks up on movement/change much
faster than on something in a steady state. While this type of landing
light feature is a common add-on to smaller aircraft, it is, for some
reason, fairly un-common on large aircraft.

Happy Flying!
Scott Skylane

[Potatora]

On Oct 29, 2:38*pm, Scott Skylane > wrote:

> No, he means that the flashing enhances the visibility of the aircraft
> to others in the area. *The human eye picks up on movement/change much
> faster than on something in a steady state. *While this type of landing
> light feature is a common add-on to smaller aircraft, it is, for some
> reason, fairly un-common on large aircraft.

Why was THIS airliner using it and not others?

I KNOW it would enhance visibility. The question is why would THIS ONE
airplane use it. SEE?

[Scott Skylane]

Potatora wrote:

> On Oct 29, 2:38 pm, Scott Skylane > wrote:
>
>
>>No, he means that the flashing enhances the visibility of the aircraft
>>to others in the area. The human eye picks up on movement/change much
>>faster than on something in a steady state. While this type of landing
>>light feature is a common add-on to smaller aircraft, it is, for some
>>reason, fairly un-common on large aircraft.
>
>
> Why was THIS airliner using it and not others?
>
> I KNOW it would enhance visibility. The question is why would THIS ONE
> airplane use it. SEE?

Read my last sentence, and understand it. SEE???

[Bob Noel[_2_]]

Potatora wrote:
> On Oct 29, 2:38 pm, Scott Skylane > wrote:
>
>> No, he means that the flashing enhances the visibility of the aircraft
>> to others in the area. The human eye picks up on movement/change much
>> faster than on something in a steady state. While this type of landing
>> light feature is a common add-on to smaller aircraft, it is, for some
>> reason, fairly un-common on large aircraft.
>
> Why was THIS airliner using it and not others?
>
> I KNOW it would enhance visibility. The question is why would THIS ONE
> airplane use it. SEE?

When safety enhancements are retrofitted to a fleet, there will always
be a time when most aircraft do not have the enhancement.

[Potatora]

On Oct 30, 4:54*am, Bob Noel > wrote:

> When safety enhancements are retrofitted to a fleet, there will always
> be a time when most aircraft do not have the enhancement.

So we can expect to see more of this blinking in the future? I would
think it would be a distraction to the pilot when landing the plane.
To the ground personnel, it would certainly be an enhancement. But
what happens when you have several aircraft visible in an area, and
one of them has blinking landing lights? Wouldn't that also be a
distraction from the other aircraft? What I'm getting at, is I can see
it as being useful for a signaling mechanism e.g. for an ambulance
crew when a plane is bringing in a passenger needing attention
(remember how the police and fire couldn't communicate during 9/11
because of radio issues? All that would need to be communicated from
the tower is "it's the plane with the blinking lights").

What I don't see being very useful is for some planes to use it and
others not to, based only on the whim of the pilot. So I'm wondering
if there's any policy or rule by any authority on when this feature
can or can not be used.

[Bob Noel[_2_]]

Potatora wrote:
> On Oct 30, 4:54 am, Bob Noel > wrote:
>
>> When safety enhancements are retrofitted to a fleet, there will always
>> be a time when most aircraft do not have the enhancement.
>
> So we can expect to see more of this blinking in the future?

I hope so. It greatly increases the ability of other pilots
to see the aircraft.