Narrative:

While conducting visual approach to runway 15 at eik during a dark night; I turned on the pilot controlled lighting during my right base turn to final. The new strobe lights that pulse extremely bright white lights (that were installed during the fall of 2010) are enough to overpower a pilot's night vision so that his ability to conduct a safe approach over the threshold and into the flare is dramatically reduced. These lights seem to be focused inward slightly and towards the plane on short final. The intention was good; however the practice could have unintended consequences; if a pilot is distracted enough over a black hole that he impacts terrain or has a landing accident. These lights should be focused more away down the runway if anything. They are so powerful that it is difficult to see the glide slope indicators (PAPI). Also; the black hole on the approach to runway 15 could easily and cheaply be illuminated by some soft ground lighting to give the pilot some perception of height. A dozen solar powered lights from home depot placed at 50' intervals would do the trick. I strongly suggest the FAA order the management at eik to immediately disable these powerful and distracting strobes until a solution can be put in place. This report should be taken as seriously as if someone had maliciously pointed a laser into the cockpit... It is just as dangerous.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SR22 pilot reports that the recently installed REIL for Runway 15 at EIK are far too intense and distracting during night landings.

Narrative: While conducting visual approach to Runway 15 at EIK during a dark night; I turned on the pilot controlled lighting during my right base turn to final. The new strobe lights that pulse extremely bright white lights (that were installed during the Fall of 2010) are enough to overpower a pilot's night vision so that his ability to conduct a safe approach over the threshold and into the flare is dramatically reduced. These lights seem to be focused inward slightly and towards the plane on short final. The intention was good; however the practice could have unintended consequences; if a pilot is distracted enough over a black hole that he impacts terrain or has a landing accident. These lights should be focused more AWAY down the runway if anything. They are so powerful that it is difficult to see the glide slope indicators (PAPI). Also; the black hole on the approach to Runway 15 could easily and cheaply be illuminated by some soft ground lighting to give the pilot some perception of height. A dozen solar powered lights from Home Depot placed at 50' intervals would do the trick. I strongly suggest the FAA order the management at EIK to immediately disable these powerful and distracting strobes until a solution can be put in place. This report should be taken as seriously as if someone had maliciously pointed a laser into the cockpit... it is just as dangerous.

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.