Hopefully it’s ok to post this in general area but I have a question for a IRL pilot or just someone with the knowledge but I heard somewhere that wing inspection lights have to be on during the whole flight for United States commercial flights.
Is this true?
I’ve done a search to try and find out but couldn’t get the information I was looking for.
Wondering if anyone in the community would know…
Good question but no, wing lights do not need to be on for the entire flight. Different airlines may have their own procedures. For example, United recommended wing lights on up to, and descending through 18,000’. They are usually turned on at takeoff and turned off at or before 10,000’ when landing lights are usually turned off. Note, these are guidelines and conditions will dictate light usage. The US FAA has a recommendation for lighting entering and operating in busy airspace which would usually be anything below 10,000’ here in the US. They will be turned off once vacating the runway along with strobes and landing lights.
Thank you for this info!
We switch them on together with beacon lights up to 10.000 ft and then again below 10.000 ft until last engine has been shutdown. And anytime at night when in icing conditions of course. There is no requirement for wing lights to be on from a regulatory standpoint. The manufacturer probably deems them required equipment for flight at night into icing conditions.