Anticollision lights

You need to see and be seen, which is the purpose of anticollision lights on the aircraft. That red light on the tail is also referred to as a beacon. The flashing lights on the wing tips are called strobes. Their role is to identify you in the air and when your engine is running on the ground. Anticollision lights are required equipment under federal aviation regulation 91.205(b), and aircraft equipped with them must have them turned on when in operation—with an exception. Because high-intensity strobes could cause spatial disorientation in certain circumstances, the FAA gives the pilot discretion to turn off anticollision lights when it’s in the interest of safety, such as when flying in instrument meteorological conditions.

[email protected]

More lights

“Navigation” or “position” lights, the red and green lights on the wing tips and white on the tail, are there to orient other aircraft. It’s a pretty neat trick—when looking at another aircraft you can tell whether it’s coming toward you or away from you by the color of the lights on each wing. For example, if an airplane is flying toward you, you would see a green light on the left and red light on the right. If an aircraft is flying past you from right to left, you would only see a red light.

Three reasons for lighting:

• To illuminate areas that pilots need to see (taxi lights, landing lights).
• To make the aircraft more visible and provide position/direction information (anticollision lights, position lights).
• To provide illumination for flight operations (interior lights).