Airport and Runway Lighting Systems Explained

Airport and Runway Lighting Systems
Explained
Airport lights can be divided into different types: General airport lighting, taxiway
lighting, runway lighting, and approach light systems.
General Airport Lighting:
General airport lighting usually includes the airport beacon and any white or red
beacon lights on top of towers, buildings, and construction equipment.
The airport beacon is a large, powerful rotating light that's highly visible from miles
away. Public use airport beacons rotate green and white. Military airports rotate green
and white, but have two white lights for each green light, which differentiate them
from civilian airports. And heliports rotate between green, white and yellow
lights. Pilots flying cross-country can easily identify an airport at night from its
beacon, making it one of the easiest checkpoints for pilots when navigating at
night. Sometimes air traffic controllers can turn the beacon on and off as necessary;
other times it's set on a timer.
Airport buildings, towers and other tall equipment on the field will have a small,
steady red beacon on top of them to aid in collision avoidance for low-flying aircraft.
Taxiway Lights
 Taxiway Edge Lights: Taxiway edge lights are blue in color and line the
taxiways. Airports often have green taxiway centerline lights, as well.
 Clearance Bar Lights - Set inside the taxiway, clearance bar lights are steady
yellow and are meant to increase the visibility of a hold line or a taxiway
intersection at night.
 Stop Bar Lights - Only installed at select airports, stop bar lights are meant to
reinforce an ATC clearance to cross or enter a runway in low visibility
situations (low IMC). They're in-pavement lights that are steady red and extend
across the taxiway at a hold short line. Once a pilot is cleared onto the runway,
the stop bar lights will be turned off.
 Runway Guard Lights - A pair of two steady yellow lights that are positioned
at each side of the taxiway at the hold short line, the runway guard lights are
meant to draw attention to the hold short line - the area where a taxiway meets
the runway.
Runway Lights
 Runway End Identifier Lights (REILs): A pair of white flashing lights, one
on each side of the approach end of the runway, that help identify the runway
from taxiways at night.
 Runway Edge Light Systems (HIRL/MIRL/LIRL): The runway edge lights
are steady white lights on the edges of the runways. On instrument runways,
the white lights change to yellow during last 2,000 feet, or half the runway
length, whichever is less, and then they turn red as the aircraft reaches the end
of the runway. They can be high-intensity (HIRL), medium-intensity (MIRL)
or low-intensity (LIRL).
 Runway Centerline Lighting System (RCLS) - On some precision runways,
a runway centerline light system is installed, with white lights spaced at 50-ft
intervals on the centerline of the runway. With 3,000 feet remaining, the white
lights change to alternating white and red, and then all red during last 1,000
feet.
 Touchdown Zone Lights (TDZL) - Touchdown zone lights are steady white
lights placed in two rows next to the centerline, starting at 100 feet and
extending to the midpoint of the runway, or 3,000 feet beyond the threshold,
whichever is less.
 Land and Hold Short Lights - When land and hold short operations
(LAHSO) are in effect, flashing white lights may be seen across the runway at
the hold short line.
 Other runway lighting may include Runway Status Lights (RWSL), which
includes Runway Entrance Lights (RELs), the Takeoff Hold Light Array
(THL), Runway Intersection Lights (RILs), and the Final Approach Runway
Occupancy Signal (FAROS). These lights work in conjunction with
surveillance systems (like ADS-B) and are fully automated. They assist in
informing pilots and ground vehicle operators when it's safe to enter or cross a
runway.
Visual Glideslope Indicators

Visual glideslope indicators are meant to give pilots a visual guide during their
descent in order to maintain a stabilized approach. They come in two types, VASIs
and PAPIs, each of which has multiple types of arrangements, but both of which give
pilots a good idea whether they're on glide path for a stable approach or not.
 VASIs, or Visual Approach Slope Indicators, are bars of lights on the side of
the runway that, when illuminated, give pilots a visual indication of whether
their aircraft is too high or too low on the approach. VASIs can be made up of
2, 4, 6, 12 or 16 lights, usually located on two or three bars - near, middle and
far. Two-bar VASIs provide an indication for a 3-degree glideslope, which is
typical for what should be flown during an approach. In a common two-bar
VASI system, a pilot should see two red lights on the far bars and two white
lights on the near bars. If all lights on the near and far bars are red, he is too
low. If all lights on the near and far bars are white, he is too high. The rule of
thumb pilots use is "red over white, you're alright."
 PAPI stands for Precision Approach Path Indicator. PAPI lights are arranged
horizontally, and typically include four lights that can be red or white,
depending on where the aircraft is n the glideslope. A typical PAPI system is
located on the left side of the runway. When all four lights are white, the
aircraft is too high. As it descends onto the glidepath, the lights on the right
side will begin to turn red. When an aircraft is on the precise glidepath, the two
left lights should be white and the two right lights should be red. When three or
more lights are red, it indicates that the aircraft is too low.

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General Airport Lighting:

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