NEVER ALONE IN THE
DARK.
NEVER ALONE IN THE
DARK.
When your plane starts to land or take off at the airport runway, the beautiful sea of lights gives a mesmerizing sight, especially at night. The lights on the tower sparkle and glow like treasures. But the obstruction beacon at the airport provides more than just aesthetics value for air passengers. They serve an important purpose -- giving signals to pilots and guiding them to safety.
The lights, called aeronautical light beacons, are visual navigational aids. These lights flash either white or colored light indicating the airport or heliport location, a landmark, and obstruction or a certain point at a federal airway in a mountain area. They might be rotating or flashing one or more lights.
A type of aeronautical light beacons at the airport is called obstruction light and is marked or lighted in different combinations. These lights warn pilots of their presence both during daytime and nighttime. The Federal Aviation Administration prescribes rules under the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) to govern all aviation-related activities in the United States. Here’s what an obstruction beacon tell you under the FARs:
Pilots see these high-intensity lights flashing in a middle top, with a lower light sequence that flashes about 60 times a minute. Usually, the top light is placed on top of a supporting structure, while the lower light is placed, the lower portion of the wire span. The lights provide visibility to the nearby structure and help pilots to identify the area of the wire span.
High-intensity flashing white lights are also found in tall structures, like chimneys, power utility towers, wind turbines, bridges, communication towers, cell towers, broadcast towers, cranes, building, flare stacks and water tanks, among others. They signal obstructions to air navigators, and these lights provide 360-degree coverage with 40 flashes per minute. The level of lights depends on the height of the structure.
For more information regarding the obstruction beacon, contact Drake Lighting today.