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An air carrier pilot objects to his company's new paint job. A 'camouflage' paint job replaced a highly visible white with stripes paint job.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 237677 |
| Time | |
| Date | 199303 |
| Day | Wed |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601 To 1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | airport : zzz |
| State Reference | US |
| Altitude | agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0 |
| Environment | |
| Light | Night |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Operator | common carrier : air carrier |
| Make Model Name | Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer |
| Flight Phase | ground : holding ground other : taxi |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Affiliation | company : air carrier |
| Function | flight crew : captain oversight : pic |
| Qualification | pilot : flight engineer pilot : cfi pilot : atp |
| Experience | flight time last 90 days : 200 flight time total : 20000 flight time type : 1500 |
| ASRS Report | 237677 |
| Person 2 | |
| Affiliation | company : air carrier |
| Function | other personnel other |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | aircraft equipment problem : less severe other anomaly other |
| Independent Detector | other flight crewa |
| Resolutory Action | none taken : anomaly accepted |
| Consequence | Other |
| Supplementary | |
| Primary Problem | Aircraft |
| Air Traffic Incident | other |
Narrative:
Our airline management has seen fit to paint the entire fleet of airplanes with a (color/color) scheme. It is essentially camouflage paint for all practical purposes. It is hard, if not impossible, to see in low/no light and low visibility conditions. These airplanes are very hard to see at night in certain parts of an airport where there is little light. The navigation lights are not the total answer because, if you can't see what they are attached to, depth perception is a problem. We had a highly visible paint job (on the ones not newly painted) and I'm sure many problems have been avoided because of their high visibility!
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: AN ACR PLT OBJECTS TO HIS COMPANY'S NEW PAINT JOB. A 'CAMOUFLAGE' PAINT JOB REPLACED A HIGHLY VISIBLE WHITE WITH STRIPES PAINT JOB.
Narrative: OUR AIRLINE MGMNT HAS SEEN FIT TO PAINT THE ENTIRE FLEET OF AIRPLANES WITH A (COLOR/COLOR) SCHEME. IT IS ESSENTIALLY CAMOUFLAGE PAINT FOR ALL PRACTICAL PURPOSES. IT IS HARD, IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE, TO SEE IN LOW/NO LIGHT AND LOW VISIBILITY CONDITIONS. THESE AIRPLANES ARE VERY HARD TO SEE AT NIGHT IN CERTAIN PARTS OF AN ARPT WHERE THERE IS LITTLE LIGHT. THE NAV LIGHTS ARE NOT THE TOTAL ANSWER BECAUSE, IF YOU CAN'T SEE WHAT THEY ARE ATTACHED TO, DEPTH PERCEPTION IS A PROB. WE HAD A HIGHLY VISIBLE PAINT JOB (ON THE ONES NOT NEWLY PAINTED) AND I'M SURE MANY PROBS HAVE BEEN AVOIDED BECAUSE OF THEIR HIGH VISIBILITY!
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.