Legends: Airport Lights

When it comes to airport and runway lighting, sectional charts give pilots the basics. A star with a dot in the center means the airport has a rotating or flashing beacon that operates between sunset and sunrise. An L between the airport?s elevation and length of the longest runway (in hundreds of feet) indicates that the runway lights are on during hours of darkness. If the L is preceded by an asterisk (*L), it indicates that the airport?s runway lights are limited in some way, e.g. pilot-controlled, or the lights may not indicate the longest runway, and that pilots must consult the Airport/Facility Directory (A/FD) for the specifics.

Even if the asterisk is not present, checking the A/FD is a good idea because its identifies what lighting system the airport has. For example, here?s the listing for Kansas City Downtown Airport.

The A/FD legend defines all the codes for each airport entry, including those for the lighting systems. At Kansas City Downtown, Runway 1-19 has high-intensity runway lights (HIRL). The Runway 1 end of the pavement has runway end identifier lights (REIL) and a VASI (visual approach slope indicator). The Runway 19 approach to the pavement has medium-intensity approach lighting system with sequenced flashing lights (MALSF), and a VASI.

Kansas City?s Runway 3-21 also is outlined by REIL. Both ends of this runway have VASI, but only the Runway 21 end has REIL. If you fly to Kansas City when the visibility is less than ideal, your runway of choice would be Runway 19 because it has the best suite of lighting systems to help guide you to touchdown.

If an airport has pilot-controlled lights, the entry?s remarks section (not shown in the example) gives the systems, the control frequency, such as CTAF (common traffic advisory frequency), and any non-standard activation requirements such as the number of microphone button clicks.

? S.M. Spangler