Strobes when on stand - Why???

[Mister Geezer]

When passing through LGW today I saw a few BA aircraft on stand with strobes on. Anyone know why this is done. Curious to know if it is done at night as well as it could be distracting when trying to park alongside a parked aircraft with strobes on at night.

Any ideas???

MG

[G.Khan]

Possibly an engineer doing a daily check - otherwise someone may have forgotten to switch them off when vacating the R/W, (unlikely to be prelonged as ground engineers soon tell you!).

[fantom]

agree with G, prob the daily. this is most annoying and potentially dodgy for everyone concerned. if a passer-by gets zapped by the rays, maybe sue the eng or the a'port auth or the a/c operator. also consider the crew in adj a/c doing the biz to get going.
why not do all the lites except the strobes on the check?

[pilotwolf]

All aircraft with engines running will have strobes on as a warning to ground crew, vehicles and other aircraft for reasons of safety.

[Dave Incognito]

pilotwolf,

Most pilots use the rotating/flashing beacon (usually red) for that purpose.

Using strobes on the ground is generally considered poor airmanship as it is very distracting for other aircraft or ground crew nearby.

[Gaza]

All aircraft with engines running will have strobes on as a warning to ground crew, vehicles and other aircraft for reasons of safety.

I was always taught to switch beacon on before start-up and not to put the strobes on until cleared on to the active.

[Chirpy Pilot]

Often wonder why the strobes are not de-activated with weight on wheels, like the BAE ATP. Very annoying when you still see A/C at Manchester, Birmingham etc taxiing around with them on.

[OzExpat]

Perhaps it happens more with BAE ATP crews who convert to other aircraft?

[fionan]

Chirpy Pilot most modern a/c have an auto position for strobes on/off with oleo pressure however I think most company sops require strobe on when entering an active. This would not happen in auto.

Also aside from it being annoying on stand there is very real fire hazard ( especially during fuelling ). I would suggest it was probably during the 'daily' which lasts ( strobe check that is not the daily ) the length of a walkaround.

[Greeezeditonmate]

Our company SOPs req strobes to be turned on when entering an active runway and left on till clear of the runway when landing as the philosophy is that when ever you are on a runway you want to make sure no one else enters the runway while you are on it. Using the auto function of the stobes after takeoff invalidates this procedure.
Any time the aircraft is crossing a potentially active runway, the strobes are turned on also.
In foggy conditions, the reflections from the strobes can cause distractions to you in your own cockpit and the more important function is a safe, undistracted takeoff and in this situation it may be wise to leave the stobes off until airbourne.

[pilotwolf]

Hi All

Having read the thread further I will retract my post above - I was confusing the collision beacons with strobes.

It was nearly 4 am after all!!! :o

[RAFAT]

F/O Mo

I'm afraid I have to partially disagree with you. I have experienced many many occasions where there have been 2, and sometimes 3 aircraft carrying out perfectly safe, and simultaneous manoeuvres on the active runway. This is where airmanship enters the equation with regard to the operation of these powerful strobes.

Are you saying that, if you were to have an aircraft backtracking the active runway behind you, (to vacate into a loop for example) you would activate the white strobes on your aircraft the moment you entered the runway? During the day this would be mildly annoying to the following aircraft, but at night it would be just downright inconsiderate. The following aircraft wishes, as you do, to carry out a safe, undistracted takeoff, but if someone else's bad airmanship has just temporarily downgraded his visual capabilities, he's gonna have to wait a while before he can do that.

Regarding the original question, it must surely have been the Engineers doing the daily, and I would hope that they were observing the correct safety precautions with regard to the use of the white strobes on the ground.

[vheijens]

As always RAFAT,
strobelights are SCD (subject to cpt's discretion). No one is saying you HAVE to put on the strobes before entering an active. But it is adviseble. (everybody can think about some situatations where you would wait before you put them on).

But is was very nice remark.

[RAFAT]

Topfly,

On the contrary, F/O Mo stated that it is SOP within his Company to do so, which means it is not SCD unless stipulated.

[LME (GOD)]

With regards to the engineers doing the daily, in my experience all the lights are required to be checked, including the strobes, they are only switched on for the time it takes someone to walk around the aircraft. It's a job that has to be done and unfortunately it may be distracting to passing aircraft for the time it takes to taxi by, but the suggestion that it maybe against airport regs, or dangerous due to the night vision problems is a little bit ludicrous.. What happens at LHR when you are taxing on the outer to the runway and there is another aircraft taxing on the inner in the opposite direction...i'm sure a 1000 watts of landing light in your face is a lot more hazardous to your night vision that a wing/tail strobe!!

[HOMER SIMPSONS LOVECHILD]

Strobes on when cleared onto the active is a potential lifesaver.I've been on short finals and seen an a/c at the hold activate his strobes.This triggered a nervous "Confirm we're cleared to land" and a hasty application of brakes from the guilty party who had wrongly thought he was cleared to line up.I personally put ours on when unconditionally cleared onto the active even if some distance away.It lets every one else know your status and cant see how it is as irritating as a few folk seem to think.Lets face it, the a.c ahead of you puts his on at some time in every departure and we are not all blinded by this.

[RAFAT]

LME - With regard to your point about strobes on stand, you will find that your Safety & Servicing notes has the answer. On your point about the landing light, both the aircraft you highlight in your example are taxying and should therefore not have the landing lights illuminated. If what you really meant to say was taxy lights then you have a valid point, and again good airmanship is the answer - switch 'em off if the situation allows.

HSL - You seem to have a "I'm gonna do this whatever the situation, cos that's what I've always done and I'm the boss, so there." Bad airmanship I'm afraid. By the way, it is not only irritating, but dangerous. Your final sentence shows an apparent lack of understanding of the whole situation.

[HOMER SIMPSONS LOVECHILD]

RAFAT,you seem to have read an awful lot into my posting so let me make an entirely speculative statement based on the tone of your posting.
You are mistaking the flashing strobes(Which in a quick straw poll at work NOBODY had ever felt blinded by except in fog) with the Landing Lights.Now they are a different story.

[RAFAT]

HSL - Don't take this the wrong way, but please get a grip on the thread! If you read through all the posts carefully you'll get the picture of the different points being raised and the relevant responses. I'm afraid I can't really respond 'on topic' to your last comment because it makes no sense to me whatsoever, how can one possibly confuse High Intensity Strobe Lights with Landing Lights?

To expand briefly on my response to your earlier post: if you activate your HISLs as a matter of course when cleared to enter the active runway, regardless the proximity of other aircraft around you, then in my view that represents a lack of airmanship.

[Leo45]

I fly for an air taxi company and most aircraft in our fleet (senecas and chieftains)have no rotating red beacon,only strobes lights.Invariably at Liverpool or Birmingham,if I don't put the strobes lights on while taxing out I am told off by ATC !!

Funny enough if you taxi whith strobes lights on at any RAF bases, especially Northolt, they will certainly bark at you.

At Heathrow or Gatwick,taxiing with just the nav lights/taxi light seems to be fine.

It's so hard to please every body............