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C210 pilot experiences flashing runway edge and centerline lights during a night visual approach to runway 26R at atl. When propeller RPM is varied the strobe effect is varied and it is decided that the effect is caused by propeller interaction with the led lights which are apparently flashing at a high rate.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1214211 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201410 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ATL.Airport |
| State Reference | GA |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Night |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Cessna 210 Centurion / Turbo Centurion 210C 210D |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Route In Use | Visual Approach |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Single Pilot Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Flight Instructor |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 150 Flight Crew Total 12000 Flight Crew Type 800 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Inflight Event / Encounter Other / Unknown |
Narrative:
During a nighttime visual approach into atl runway 26R I noticed the pavement lights on the runway flashing on and off. I also noted that the runway lights on the parallel runway 26L were also flashing on and off. I had another experienced pilot with me who saw the same thing. We discussed what was happening and thought it may be the propeller strobe effect and runway led lighting. So we decided to vary the RPM of the prop and when we did we could change which lights flashed on and off; either the runway or centerline on either runway. We are wondering if any assessments of this flashing phenomena were evaluated by human factors for the distracting nature of landing runway lights flashing on and off during an instrument approach and landing before led lights were installed and if either this needs to be evaluated or pilots warned of this phenomena.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: C210 pilot experiences flashing runway edge and centerline lights during a night visual approach to Runway 26R at ATL. When propeller RPM is varied the strobe effect is varied and it is decided that the effect is caused by propeller interaction with the LED lights which are apparently flashing at a high rate.
Narrative: During a nighttime visual approach into ATL Runway 26R I noticed the pavement lights on the runway flashing on and off. I also noted that the runway lights on the parallel Runway 26L were also flashing on and off. I had another experienced pilot with me who saw the same thing. We discussed what was happening and thought it may be the propeller strobe effect and runway LED lighting. So we decided to vary the RPM of the prop and when we did we could change which lights flashed on and off; either the runway or centerline on either runway. We are wondering if any assessments of this flashing phenomena were evaluated by Human Factors for the distracting nature of landing runway lights flashing on and off during an instrument approach and landing before LED lights were installed and if either this needs to be evaluated or pilots warned of this phenomena.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.