Heathrow taxy guidance lighting
 

Does EGLL still have the guidance lighting for taxiing aircraft so that aircraft can be instructed to "Follow the greens", or has that gone out with the new tower? Thanks

I certainly hope so otherwise I followed some spurious green lights all the way to my stand this morning!

Yep... reds and greens still there!

Are there any other airports in the world with a similar system?

Thanks for the simple honest reply H.D., which was what I was looking for, not the smart a***d comment from Ham.

25 check

Yes, London - Gatwick has this system too.

Bedder... Don't take offence at Ham Phisted. He's an experienced pilot who offered an accurate answer with a bit of humour.... and he sure needs that operating out of Heathrow!

Sorry H.D. but I'm an experienced controller (40 plus years) and I was discussing the pro's and con's of the Heathrow system with a class of Hong Kong tower students. Call me light, but I do take offence.

Hi

I am a Heathrow Lighting Operator, if you have any questions I'd be more than happy to help.

Singapore has a similar system and I believe one of the Tokyo airports does.

It seems some people would prefer a "sea of greens" , any opinions appreciated.

Bedder , we have recently had some Hong Kong students visit and they were mighty impressed. Out of interest , what pro's and Con's did you come up with? Only asking as we are working on some "Best Practice" literature at the moment.

A/t

Auto throttle

You switched the lights off just as I was approaching the stand....fortunately it was broad daylight by then :)

Reds and greens at Heathrow are the dogs whotsits especially after a 12+ hr flt from a former British colony in the Far East :ok::ok::ok::ok:

Auto, the six students I have at the moment would be the ones that visited you recently. They came back from their UK course about a month ago. I will speak to them further about Heathrow ops tomorrow. Good kids.

> You switched the lights off just as I was approaching the stand....fortunately it was broad daylight by then

Blimey, how long did it take for you to taxy in?! I didn't think LHR was that bad...:)

LBA has - bit less complex though!

Heathrow Tower
 

I had a play with that lighting panel during a visit to the tower just before xmas.

What a stunning piece of hardware that is.

To see the effects of the various options, replicated on the big flat screen was fantastic. As it happens, late afternoon in winter allows you to see it out of the window anyway, but the confirmation and the pre programmed "routes" made it all look so easy. I'm sure it must ease lots of headaches, for Pilots and Controllers.

Ham,

This time of year they go off very early indeed , around the time of the BAW26,28 OR VIR201 (if you are referring to HKG)!

Bedder,

Yeah they certainly were very switched on and very polite...a pleasure to show round!

A/t

We were the BAW26 and I was taxying very slowly - still have L plates!

DXB and DWC (Al Maktoum) do.

:ok:

May I assume that the the pro's and con's of "follow the greens" was discussed from an ATC viewpoint. Over the years I have become used to someone else apparently speaking on my behalf, without ever asking me about my opinion. For what it's worth, I love the follow the "follow the greens" if for no other reason than it allows us to vacate, check-in and start taxiing away from the active runway. During LVP's it also gives you a certain level of confidence that you are not being a complete tit.

PM

I think Munich may have a similar system in place.

25check - you think you jest - but when I was a Panel Operator, a SAA B747 was told he'd have a near-2-hour wait for his stand; after a moment of contemplation, he came out with a classic - 'And I thought this was a first-world country....'

Ive been out of it for 5 years now, but doing the lights was the best job I could have ever found.

Piltdown Man - Sometimes, on very rare occasions*, the L/Ops might not have been quite as quick as Captain Speaking might have liked - and I appreciate, it's frustrating to be looking at a bar with nothing apparently beyond it. I well remember some plank of a pilot (small twin-prop, well known airline) /telling/ us he was crossing a bar, then coming face to face with the rather larger aeroplane he was supposed to be giving way to...... If he'd been in anything larger, he couldn't have done the powered 180deg turn that got him out of it.

* maybe less rare when I was on duty ;-)