Narrative:

I operated a part 121 flight. We encountered a taxi situation which I believe is a safety hazard. During a night time operation we were given taxi instructions via 'B' to runway 31L at 'kk.' upon entering taxiway 'B' we noticed the centerline lights were out for several thousand feet (from about taxiway 'ma' almost to 'kk.'). Jfk; lga; ewr; and phl apparently operate under some FAA waiver or order that allows night operations with no blue taxiway lights. This is an aviation hazard by itself. I've done some research and I believe the taxiway waiver allows 'retroreflective markers' in lieu of lights when centerline lights are available. The blue markers on the sticks in jfk are not visible at night with normal taxi lighting. With no operable centerline lights on taxiway 'B' it is a virtually invisible taxiway and runway/taxiway intersections are impossible to determine. I brought the outage to the attention of the ground controller on 121.9. I asked if it was legal to use for part 121 traffic when there were no operational lights for several thousand feet. He appeared to be aware of the outage but was unconcerned and stated that 'port authority hasn't closed it...' so it was therefore safe to use as an active taxiway. All the above airports desperately need blue taxiway lights for surface movement safety and runway incursion avoidance. FAA AC 120-74A; pg 25 paragraph 4; specifically directs pilots to use taxiway side lights as a matter of procedure to identify intersections and avoid runway incursions during taxi operations. If centerline lights are not available during night and low visibility at the above airports with the ill- advised hazardous FAA waiver for blue taxiway lights; the taxiway should be notamed out of service as unsafe and not used.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An Air Carrier pilot noted that taxiway lights on JFK's taxiway 'B' between Taxiways 'MA' and 'KK' are inoperative and the Retrorlextive Markers are not visible at night.

Narrative: I operated a Part 121 flight. We encountered a taxi situation which I believe is a safety hazard. During a night time operation we were given taxi instructions via 'B' to runway 31L at 'KK.' Upon entering taxiway 'B' we noticed the centerline lights were out for several thousand feet (from about taxiway 'MA' almost to 'KK.'). JFK; LGA; EWR; and PHL apparently operate under some FAA waiver or order that allows night operations with no blue taxiway lights. This is an aviation hazard by itself. I've done some research and I believe the taxiway waiver allows 'retroreflective markers' in lieu of lights when centerline lights are available. The blue markers on the sticks in JFK are NOT visible at night with normal taxi lighting. With no operable centerline lights on taxiway 'B' it is a virtually invisible taxiway and runway/taxiway intersections are impossible to determine. I brought the outage to the attention of the ground controller on 121.9. I asked if it was legal to use for Part 121 traffic when there were no operational lights for several thousand feet. He appeared to be aware of the outage but was unconcerned and stated that 'Port Authority hasn't closed it...' so it was therefore safe to use as an active taxiway. All the above airports desperately need blue taxiway lights for surface movement safety and runway incursion avoidance. FAA AC 120-74A; pg 25 paragraph 4; specifically directs pilots to use taxiway side lights as a matter of procedure to identify intersections and avoid runway incursions during taxi operations. If centerline lights are not available during night and low visibility at the above airports with the ill- advised hazardous FAA waiver for blue taxiway lights; the taxiway should be NOTAMed out of service as unsafe and not used.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.