Narrative:

I was working the local control position at the time of the event. I was combined with three other positions (local radar; clearance control and ground control) and had the controller in charge position because I was working with a newly certified cpc who had not yet received a controller in charge certification. It was past sunset and nearly dark. Runway xxr was active and it was in the middle of the 'sunset rush' when the VFR aircraft are returning prior to darkness. I had an HS25 jet on short final for runway xxr. I also had hand-offs on 3 single engine planes and two B737's. The HS25 requested that I turn up the runway lights. When an aircraft makes this request on short final; there is very little time to react in order for the action to be of any use. The old lighting panel only required the turn of a dial to accommodate this request. However the new airfield lighting computer system requires 6 actions; coupled with scanning the screen each time to determine the correct icon to press. This prohibits fast action when it is required/requested. Because of my need to act quickly; I forgot that due to a technical problem; we actually didn't even have control of the lighting for runway xxr. When I hit the series of icons to adjust the runway xxr lighting intensity; the result was to cause the entire field lighting to go down; rendering the whole airport dark at a time that I was moderately busy. I advised the HS25 that we had lost control of the lights and landing on the unlit runway would be at his own risk. He chose to land anyway and did so without incident. I had a cessna about a mile behind the HS25 on a right base to final with the intent of 'squeezing' him between the HS25 and a B737. I had to break off the cessna because of the lack of field lighting. I; or another controller; it was so busy I'm not sure [who]; succeeded in getting the lights to come on for runway yy on low intensity. I turned the cessna to a left downwind for runway yy and had the B737 break off of the left base entry for runway xxr to proceed on a left downwind for runway yy. Rather than keep the cessna and the B737 both on the left downwind; I told the cessna to transition to the right downwind. Unfortunately; the cessna pilot had become disoriented and instead of sidestepping to the right downwind; he flew right up the final and very quickly came in conflict with the B737. As soon as I became aware of his poor compliance with my previous instruction I immediately turned the cessna out to the southeast and told him to make a turn around to come back to a right base for runway yy. I then turned my attention to the other cessna and the PA32 who were inbound from the northwest. By the time my attention came back to the first cessna; he had taken such a large turn that he came into conflict with the second B737; inbound from the southeast on a right base for runway yy. Keep in mind that while this is happening I was still trying to adjust the field lighting because; while we had gotten runway yy to come up on low intensity; we didn't have taxiway lights. As the conflicts among my airborne aircraft mounted and I had at least some lights on runway yy; I left the adjustments to the field lighting to my fellow cpc. By the time the first cessna had come out of his second 360 degree turn; I had him turn in to follow the PA32 who had made a left downwind entry. Unfortunately; as I became aware; the pilot of the PA32 was also disoriented and as he came closer to the airport I became aware that he was a few hundred yards to the left of course; apparently lining up on a nearby road because the runway yy lights were so dim. So; I had to send the PA32 around for another turn around the pattern to follow the two cessna's. Through the duration of this event; the one cessna came into conflict with two different B737's and the PA32 was lined up on a public road for landing. I believe major contributing factors to the conflicts were as follows. I was distracted by too many duties; needing to deal with malfunctioning lighting while having complex traffic. The two pilots; the first cessna and the PA32; became disoriented by the lack of field lighting. The primary trigger for this event was the complexity of the field lighting control panel. I am normally not intimidated by technical equipment. While the panel seems relatively simple; when a situation occurred where settings need to be changed quickly; the old toggle switch/dial panel was much easier to adjust. The traffic level would have been routine or even boring but for the equipment problems.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Tower Controller described a very complex and confusing runway lighting failure event resulting in several conflicts; the reporter stated the new lighting panel is more complex and work intensive when adjusting light levels compared to the old system.

Narrative: I was working the Local Control position at the time of the event. I was combined with three other positions (Local Radar; Clearance Control and Ground Control) and had the CIC position because I was working with a newly certified CPC who had not yet received a CIC certification. It was past sunset and nearly dark. Runway XXR was active and it was in the middle of the 'sunset rush' when the VFR aircraft are returning prior to darkness. I had an HS25 jet on short final for Runway XXR. I also had hand-offs on 3 single engine planes and two B737's. The HS25 requested that I turn up the runway lights. When an aircraft makes this request on short final; there is very little time to react in order for the action to be of any use. The old lighting panel only required the turn of a dial to accommodate this request. However the new Airfield Lighting Computer System requires 6 actions; coupled with scanning the screen each time to determine the correct icon to press. This prohibits fast action when it is required/requested. Because of my need to act quickly; I forgot that due to a technical problem; we actually didn't even have control of the lighting for Runway XXR. When I hit the series of icons to adjust the Runway XXR lighting intensity; the result was to cause the entire field lighting to go down; rendering the whole airport dark at a time that I was moderately busy. I advised the HS25 that we had lost control of the lights and landing on the unlit runway would be at his own risk. He chose to land anyway and did so without incident. I had a Cessna about a mile behind the HS25 on a right base to final with the intent of 'squeezing' him between the HS25 and a B737. I had to break off the Cessna because of the lack of field lighting. I; or another controller; it was so busy I'm not sure [who]; succeeded in getting the lights to come on for Runway YY on low intensity. I turned the Cessna to a left downwind for Runway YY and had the B737 break off of the left base entry for Runway XXR to proceed on a left downwind for Runway YY. Rather than keep the Cessna and the B737 both on the left downwind; I told the Cessna to transition to the right downwind. Unfortunately; the Cessna pilot had become disoriented and instead of sidestepping to the right downwind; he flew right up the final and very quickly came in conflict with the B737. As soon as I became aware of his poor compliance with my previous instruction I immediately turned the Cessna out to the southeast and told him to make a turn around to come back to a right base for Runway YY. I then turned my attention to the other Cessna and the PA32 who were inbound from the northwest. By the time my attention came back to the first Cessna; he had taken such a large turn that he came into conflict with the second B737; inbound from the southeast on a right base for Runway YY. Keep in mind that while this is happening I was still trying to adjust the field lighting because; while we had gotten Runway YY to come up on low intensity; we didn't have taxiway lights. As the conflicts among my airborne aircraft mounted and I had at least some lights on Runway YY; I left the adjustments to the field lighting to my fellow CPC. By the time the first Cessna had come out of his second 360 degree turn; I had him turn in to follow the PA32 who had made a left downwind entry. Unfortunately; as I became aware; the pilot of the PA32 was also disoriented and as he came closer to the airport I became aware that he was a few hundred yards to the left of course; apparently lining up on a nearby road because the Runway YY lights were so dim. So; I had to send the PA32 around for another turn around the pattern to follow the two Cessna's. Through the duration of this event; the one Cessna came into conflict with two different B737's and the PA32 was lined up on a public road for landing. I believe major contributing factors to the conflicts were as follows. I was distracted by too many duties; needing to deal with malfunctioning lighting while having complex traffic. The two pilots; the first Cessna and the PA32; became disoriented by the lack of field lighting. The primary trigger for this event was the complexity of the field lighting control panel. I am normally not intimidated by technical equipment. While the panel seems relatively simple; when a situation occurred where settings need to be changed quickly; the old toggle switch/dial panel was much easier to adjust. The traffic level would have been routine or even boring but for the equipment problems.

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.