Airfield lighting - Articles and news items
Issue 3 2010 / 9 June 2010 / Steve Pittman, Deputy Airport Director, Facilities Engineering & Maintenance, Raleigh Durham International Airport
Is LED airfield lighting right for your airport? It’s a question you may need to ask yourself if you intend to install or replace your airport’s lighting system, and the answer may be easier than you think. For Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU), located in central North Carolina, it was a question we recently had to consider and decide upon. This article details the process we went through in considering our answer and the results of our decision regarding light emitting diode (LED) fixtures and supporting systems. (more…)
Airport news, Featured news / 28 March 2010 / Magna Communications
FIRETRACE® is the only UL listed and FM approved tube-operated system in the world tested as an automatic fire detection and suppression system.
Firetrace International will be showcasing its full range of FIRETRACE® automatic fire detection and suppression systems at The Airport Show in Dubai that provides stand-alone, around-the-clock protection for electrical cabinets and enclosures upon which airports’ mission-critical services depend. FIRETRACE is the only UL [Underwriters Laboratories] listed and FM [Factory Mutual] approved tube-operated system in the world that is tested as an automatic fire detection and suppression system with, globally, 150,000 successfully completed installations.
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Issue 1 2010, Past issues / 22 February 2010 / Dr. Ron Gibbons, Mr. Chris Edwards and Dr. Antonio Trani, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI)
The current standards and criteria to implement approach lighting systems are based on the number of aircraft operations, the type of airport operations, and the design criteria of runway operations. These criteria do not address issues such as the safety of passengers and rescue personnel after an aircraft accident/incident.
Airports around the world face enormous challenges to protect people and property during regular aircraft operations. Significant encroachment of airports around populated areas has occurred in the past five decades. For the 31 years from 1976-2007, commercial aviation demand – measured in terms of commercial passenger enplanements in the system – has tripled from 238 to 767 million1.
Approach lighting systems (ALS) provide a critical component of the runway safety systems to allow a pilot to transition from instrument to visual flight during landing. In the United States, there are 2100 runway ends which are equipped with ALS. These systems, while critical for safe landing, also provide a potential issue in the case of an undershoot or overrun on a landing. An aircraft landing in an ALS field is in an environment which has both electrical equipment and structures. There is great potential for damage to the aircraft, injury to passengers and problems for the first responders. (more…)
Issue 5 2009, Past issues / 29 September 2009 / Joanie Campbell, Airfield Lighting Systems Engineer, HQ Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency (AFCESA)
Airfield Lighting Systems and Navigational Aids are the lifelines thrown to pilots every day. For military pilots, proper operation of these systems touches more than safety of the crew. It affects hundreds of military personnel and the security of the nations they represent. Aircraft entering expeditionary locations carry military members, sustainment for these military members, equipment and machinery needed for operations, strategic and tactical information, and air support for ground troops. The national security of many nations depends on air operations.
Commencement of military airfield operations is not one simple process, but a system of processes ranging from utilising an existing, aged, unlighted asphalt air strip to establishing an air strip from nothing, in an extremely austere environment. Air operations are made possible by ground support, men and women who pre-deploy to build the strips and install navigational aids to support air operations. Packaged lighting systems have proven to be an efficient means to quickly provide this initial and ongoing support, but as with everything, these systems continue to evolve and improve. (more…)
Issue 3 2009, Past issues / 26 May 2009 /
This is an overview of the Airport Guidance Lighting Systems, installed and operating, at Toronto Pearson International Airport, located 25 kilometres from downtown Toronto, Ontario. The airport is Operated by the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA), under a lease agreement with the Government of Canada. The GTAA has upgraded and improved the entire airport, including two new runways, one new terminal, new cargo facilities, an on-airport people mover system, a co-generation facility, and new airfield lighting and control systems, amongst others.
The Airport Guidance Lighting Systems at Toronto Pearson consist of two ALSF II Approach Lighting Systems, located on Runways 06L and 05. All other runways (15R/33L, 15L/33R, 06R/24L, 23 and 24R) have a SSALR (Short Simplified Approach Lights for Runway) approach and a set of four PAPI’s (Position Approach Path Indicator). The runways also have threshold lights, elevated edge lights and inset high speed exit lights. Four of the five runways include inset centreline lights and two runways boast inset touchdown zone lights. (more…)
Issue 5 2007, Past issues / 28 September 2007 / Dorn R. Sanders, Manager of Business Development and Training, Association of Airport Executives (AAAE)
The Airport Certified Employee (ACE) – Airfield Lighting Maintenance programme was the second of four certification programmes introduced by the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) in 2004. This was the first comprehensive, professional certification programme concentrating on airfield lighting maintenance for airport personnel. The curriculum is based on standards and regulations set by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), and the US military.
AAAE offers this course in three formats based on the needs of the airport client or individual member. For the individual, AAAE offers the option of self-study. This format is for the certification candidate who wishes to study at his or her own pace before taking the exam. The course material is sent from AAAE headquarters, after which the candidate has up to three years to study the content and complete the proctored certification exam. (more…)
Issue 3 2007, Past issues / 7 June 2007 / Jim Patterson, Jr. Airport Safety Specialist, FAA
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is developing a system called the Runway Status Light (RSL) System that is designed to automatically warn pilots of the ‘status’ of the runway on which they are about to land, depart, or cross. The system accomplishes this task by illuminating a series of red, in-pavement warning lights that are placed at strategic locations on the runway itself, at runway intersections and also at entrance taxiways. It is expected that the implementation of this system will greatly enhance operational safety at many large airports in the United States.
The system, which uses a surveillance data source such as an Airport Surface Detection Equipment Model X (ASDE-X) or Airport Movement Area Safety System/Airport Surface Detection Equipment Model 3 (AMASS/ASDE-3), conveys the runway occupancy status to the user (pilots, ground vehicle operators etc.), indicating when a runway is unsafe to takeoff or to enter through the use of red, in-pavement warning lights. The two major visual guidance components of the RSL system, which are controlled by the RSL control system, are the Runway Entrance Lights (REL) and the Takeoff Hold Lights (THL). The REL is a series of in-pavement lights that are positioned on the centreline of taxiways that enter the runway. The THL is a series of in-pavement lights that are positioned along the centreline of the runway, near the departure threshold. The RELs illuminate to warn aircraft that are entering the runway that the runway is already occupied and that it is not safe to enter. Conversely, the THLs illuminate to warn pilots preparing for departure that the runway is unsafe for takeoff. (more…)
Issue 2 2006, Past issues / 16 June 2006 / Selina Johnson, Manager, Business Development & Training,American Association of Airport Executives
The American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) is the largest professional organisation for airport executives in the world, representing thousands of airport management personnel at public use airports.AAAE’s primary goal is to assist airport executives in fulfilling their responsibilities to the airports and communities they serve.
AAAE does this through its many training programmes, which include several focused Airport Certified Employee (ACE) programmes for the benefit of personnel at small, medium and large hub airports. These programmes include; The ACE Airfield Lighting and Maintenance Review Course, ACE Operations Review Course, IACE (International Association Of Airport Employees) Operations Course, ACE Security Review Course and ACE Communications.
The ACE programmes provide any AAAE members and non-members the opportunity to obtain a thorough and up to date education in the disciplines mentioned above. The ACE Airfield Lighting and Maintenance Review Course was started after AAAE met with and asked the Airport Training Committee, which comprises of Managers and Directors from member airports around the United States, what their airport needs were when it came to training. Their response was that they needed programmes that certified airport employees, which at the time were not available anywhere in the airport industry. AAAE concurred because we believe that certification not only creates industry recognition but also an industry standard, a tangible way of measuring and validating skills. (more…)
Issue 1 2006, Past issues / 17 March 2006 / Ferran Balcells Serra, Head of the Standardisation and Maintenance Division, Directorate of Infrastructures, AENA
Ferran Balcells offers a guide to Aeronautical Ground Lighting and an insight into the role that ICAO has played in its development.
Aeronautical Ground Lighting (AGL) is the collective denomination for the whole set of ground installed luminaires and related ancillaries meant to be used as visual aids by aircraft pilots and eventually, other users of aerodrome facilities.
Specifically, AGL is formed by a number of aeronautical ground lights, arranged in accordance with precise patterns. An aeronautical ground light is any light specially provided as an aid to air navigation, other than a light displayed on an aircraft.
International standards applicable to AGL were first established by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Nowadays, both the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (Comité Européen de Normalisation Electrotechnique, CENELEC) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) have dedicated Technical Committees that have published a number of International and European standards regarding AGL. (more…)
Issue 3 2005, Past issues / 16 September 2005 / Ben Sampson
The growing acceptance of LED technology for use in different airports globally is testament to the technology’s potential in this area.
Wherever you are in the world, regardless of the size or type of the airfield, the airfield lights provide guidance for pilots and those engaged in airside operations. But although a simplistic approach may achieve this function, the vital role that the lights play in the operation of an airport may hold potential for management. That potential could yield greater operational efficiency, effect cost savings, improve safety and help meet future demands on capacity. (more…)
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