What is the effect of the lights on the wings, tail... of the plane?

The aircraft is equipped with many types of lights in positions such as the wings, tail, and landing gear with different colors.

These lights are divided into 3 different purposes including illuminating the space that the pilot needs to observe, making the aircraft easier to detect and providing light for different purposes.

Most aircraft have four different types of lights.

Landing lights: Usually located on the landing gear spar or under the wing. This type of light is always stable and helps pilots clearly see the runway when controlling the aircraft to land. Normally they will light up when taking off, after the plane enters the runway and when landing, when it is nearly at an altitude below 3,000m.

Beacon: A slow flashing red light on the upper part of the aircraft. Beacons are one of the measures to help avoid collisions, recommended to be turned on before starting the engine to let people around know that the pilot is about to activate the engine and should stay away from the aircraft.

Flashing lights: White on the rear wing tip, helping the aircraft become easier to identify in the dark is also a way to avoid collisions like a beacon. Strobe lights are usually turned on during the flight. In new aircraft, LED lights are often used as flashing lights.

Position lights or navigation lights include 2 lights with different colors mounted at the tip of each wing. Red is always on the left, blue is always on the right. Allows anyone under the surface or another aircraft in flight to determine the other aircraft's position and direction. New aircraft have an additional white navigation light at the rear of the tail. Navigation lights are always on and shine steadily, both on the ground and in the sky.

Lesley Montoya

Update 11 January 2024