Air carrier flight crew departing before tower opening departs on a taxiway; being unaware that the ...

Attributes
ACN	1121123
Time
Date	201310
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Dawn
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Takeoff
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown

Narrative:

During takeoff roll on runway 19 prior to tower operations; I realized that the runway lights were actually blue taxiway lights. Both the first officer and I didn't make the distinction until I turned the light to a higher setting prior to rotation. Since runway [taxiway] edges were illuminated and the runway was adequately visible I chose not to do a high speed abort. Once airborne I listened to the ASOS and discovered that pilot controlled lighting was for the other runway. Either pilot controlled lighting needs to include runways 1/19 or some means of designation for taxi only needs to be included in the ASOS.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air Carrier flight crew departing before Tower opening departs on a taxiway; being unaware that the pilot controlled lighting system only activates the runway lights for the runway in use when the Tower closed.

Narrative: During takeoff roll on Runway 19 prior to Tower operations; I realized that the runway lights were actually blue taxiway lights. Both the First Officer and I didn't make the distinction until I turned the light to a higher setting prior to rotation. Since runway [taxiway] edges were illuminated and the runway was adequately visible I chose not to do a high speed abort. Once airborne I listened to the ASOS and discovered that pilot controlled lighting was for the other runway. Either pilot controlled lighting needs to include Runways 1/19 or some means of designation for taxi only needs to be included in the ASOS.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Air carrier flight crew departing before tower opening departs on a taxiway; being unaware that the pilot controlled lighting system only activates the runway lights for the runway in use when the tower closed.