Supplemental Training Part 4: Night Landings Without Landing Lights

The FARs require “10 takeoffs and 10 landings to a full stop” at night for private applicants, and 10 takeoffs and landings at an airport with a control tower at night for commercial applicants. No other requirements for landings are found. In the interest of scenario-based training and safety, all of my students “lose” their landing light for 2 night takeoffs and landings. The goal here is not just to make sure you can safely land when the light fails, but this lesson forces students to demonstrate aeronautical decision making.
 When might you need to land without the light:

1. The bulb simply burns out
2. You lose your alternator/generator and purposefully reduce the load
3. Complete loss of electrical power
4. Mechanical failure
5. You fly a Cessna with a cowl mounted landing light ait it shakes itself out

 
What you learn:

1. If equipped, substitute with the taxi light (then fail the taxi light)
2. Use the runway edge lights to maintain center line
3. Your depth perception will be off. Use ambient light (a full moon is cheating) to identify the surface and proper time to flare.
4. Use lowest intensity runway lighting available (This also demonstrates why we don’t “swirl” when we clean the windshield. With high intensity runway lights and no landing light, a swirled windshield produces severe glare as the light is refracted in all directions.)

 
​I meet high time pilots from all certificate levels that have never landed without landing lights. My private instructor trained me how to deal with the situation. As a 135 pilot I had to land without lights and a full load of passengers. On Beechjets, landing lights extend outward from the nose when the gear is extended (see below). One night with one light burned out and deferred per the MEL, the motor on the other side failed to extend. The captain had never landed without lights, luckily I had. I used my private training from 15 years earlier to brief him on the above lessons and how I was going to land. ​

Beechjet Landing Light
 
On Beechjets, landing lights extend outward from the nose when the landing lights are turned on, normally when the gear is extended.

This is also a good lesson in crew resource management. In this abnormal operation, the pilot with the most appropriate experience for the situation, the FO, performed the landing.

If you have never had your landing light “fail” use this as an excuse to grab an instructor and go for a ride.

Next time: "Blinded by the Light"