This morning, I saw another piece of news on Sina Weibo about ground maintenance personnel suffering eye injuries due to strong lights from an aircraft. It reminded me of similar incidents I had previously seen in the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS), and I truly hope such misfortunes can be eliminated.

According to the record on Weibo, on September 8th at Changchun Airport, the nose gear steering light of an A320 was not turned off, and then the takeoff taxi light was suddenly turned on, causing retinal injuries to the maintenance personnel directing the parking position, who required hospitalization; The Weibo post also disclosed that on May 5th at Hongqiao Airport, an aircraft kept its taxi lights on the entire time. The strong light not only interfered with the ground guidance by maintenance personnel but also posed a significant hazard to human vision, yet it seems the captain in command lacked appropriate awareness of this issue.

How do experts in the ASRS explain such matters?

You can refer to this case report: <a href=http://scass.hangankeji.com/pcReportShow.action?allreportsId=1035>Aircraft Irradiates Maintenance Personnel During Post-Landing Taxi Guidance. (Similar cases include <a href=http://scass.hangankeji.com/pcReportShow.action?allreportsId=584>Requirements for Taxi Lights During Aircraft Taxiing)

First, the situation at the time was: “The flight crew did not promptly turn off the taxi lights and the wing root landing lights. At the time, our directing personnel could not see the aircraft’s taxi path… Afterwards, our directing personnel experienced symptoms such as temporary bright light afterimages and tearing.”

An excerpt from the expert’s explanation is as follows:

“This clearly and explicitly indicates that the taxi lights and turning lights (runway turn-off lights, landing lights) were not turned off…

The design function of taxi lights on B737-800 aircraft: Taxi lights allow the flight crew to see the taxi lines during taxiing. The target of taxi lights: Taxi lines.

The design function of wing root landing lights on B737-800 aircraft: During takeoff and landing, landing lights help the flight crew see the runway. The target of landing lights: The Runway.

In the SOP (Standard Operating Procedures) provided by the manufacturers of B737-800 and A320 for flight crew use, it is clearly required: After vacating the runway, the flight crew is required to follow procedures to turn off landing lights; turning on landing lights while taxiing on the ground (non-runway areas) is prohibited; When the aircraft enters the parking stand and after visual guidance is established, turn off taxi lights and turning lights.

Therefore, when the aircraft has landed and is taxiing off the runway, landing lights should be turned off. Moreover, wing root landing lights are high-power electrical devices with high heat generation and should not be used for extended periods at low speeds.

When the aircraft taxis and is ready to enter the parking stand, the flight crew should use the signals from ground directing personnel as taxi instructions.