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Colin Dunn

2006

Inverness Airport - mis-directed floodlight

I flew from Inverness to Bristol recently, and saw this floodlight at Inverness Airport pointing directly into the sky. Quite apart from the light pollution and wasted energy, this scares me as a passenger, as it must surely interfere with the pilots vision. Fortunately, this is pointing to the south west, and most flights seem to circle the airfield and land from the north east.

A recent plane crash investigation in Moorabin Airport in Australia concluded that light pollution around the airport there was a significant factor in the accident, which resulted in the death of a commercial pilot with more than 200 hours flying time.

"There are many lights surrounding the airport that are blinding to look at. If a pilot fixates on those lights, you can lose a lot of depth perception and the ability to judge distance. ...close to the airport runway lights and navigation lights, which are vital to safe flying, can be very difficult to find."
A member of the Aviation Medical Society.

I've emailed the airport twice in the last fortnight about the floodlight pictured, asking them to realign it for safety reasons. I'm disappointed that they have not responded.
Picture Added on 14 November 2006.

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