Skinnah
Well-Known Member
Just to add to this. I had an experience a few months back which I found interesting and educational.
I was on a night flight from Denver to Colorado Springs to drop my sister off. I was handed off to Springs approach and headed towards the airport but for some reason I just could not see the runway. I could see the rotating beacon so I had a general idea of the airport environment but still no runway. At about 10 miles out I was cleared for landing following the plane in front of me which I had in sight but still no runway. I continued to follow the plane in front of me and at about 5 miles I started to get a little worried becuase I still could not see the runway. The plane in front of me was on about a 2 mile final and asks the tower to turn the lights up and they did, he asks them to turn them up again and they replied that the lights are at max. The plane said that they could see the runway but the lights were out and tower asked if they wanted to continue which they did. Tower than asked me if I wanted to continue my approach. At this point I could see the taxiway lights but still no runway lights. I could tell where the runway was because it was the long dark strip in front of me. I flew the approach a little higher knowing that I had about 10,000 feet of runway to work with figuring that once I'm over the runway I will see the markings and I did. I made a nice easy landing and taxied to parking.
Did I break any rules? I thought that I would share this experience because I found it very interesting. When in doubt don't hesitate to ask ATC, they had no idea that the lights were out.
I was on a night flight from Denver to Colorado Springs to drop my sister off. I was handed off to Springs approach and headed towards the airport but for some reason I just could not see the runway. I could see the rotating beacon so I had a general idea of the airport environment but still no runway. At about 10 miles out I was cleared for landing following the plane in front of me which I had in sight but still no runway. I continued to follow the plane in front of me and at about 5 miles I started to get a little worried becuase I still could not see the runway. The plane in front of me was on about a 2 mile final and asks the tower to turn the lights up and they did, he asks them to turn them up again and they replied that the lights are at max. The plane said that they could see the runway but the lights were out and tower asked if they wanted to continue which they did. Tower than asked me if I wanted to continue my approach. At this point I could see the taxiway lights but still no runway lights. I could tell where the runway was because it was the long dark strip in front of me. I flew the approach a little higher knowing that I had about 10,000 feet of runway to work with figuring that once I'm over the runway I will see the markings and I did. I made a nice easy landing and taxied to parking.
Did I break any rules? I thought that I would share this experience because I found it very interesting. When in doubt don't hesitate to ask ATC, they had no idea that the lights were out.
