IMHO that line of reasoning is a bit "rubbishy". In the few minutes the lights are turned off prior to departure it doesnt give much time for your eyes to adjust at all, especially when half the cabin then turns their reading lights on!
(It doesnt do you much good when the planes a flaming inferno anyway!)
The main reason given by US airlines, is to improve the view on departure for pax......(sounds like rubbish to me as well)
The reason some carriers leave their internal lights on and window shades up on departure at night is to improve aircraft visibility. It is amazing what a difference it makes. Taxiing out of Narita recently, which is a mass of lighs anyway, we could hardly see the Jumbos from various American carriers (presume it would be the same for other airlines without lights on, just only happened to see American Carriers taxiing), yet when another airline with its internal lights on taxied past, it was like a row of strip lighting down the side. Without the lights you just see, Stobes and beacons and nose taxi lights, there is no depth or size perception of the aircraft.....
Anyway, each to their own eh.
Last edited by blueloo; 23rd Feb 2005 at 01:20.