Strobes on while parking?

[anden145 2,285]

Hi all,

 

Wasn't really sure where to put this (so mods, please move it, if it's in the wrong forum-section). I'm hoping that someone with pilot or airport knowledge could answer my question here. 🙂

A couple of days ago, I returned home to Copenhagen after visiting Paris. I flew on easyJet (we flew on an A320-200) from CDG-CPH and it was around 20.15, when we arrived and parked on the gate/stand. It was dark (like night-dark) when we arrived and disembarked and I (given the airplane freak I am) noticed, that he didn't turnt he strobe-lights off. When we landed the pilot turned off the strobes (as he should) after vacating the runway (we landed RWY 22L). He then turned them on again, when crossing a runway (RWY 12-30) while we were taxiing to the stand (which I guess is normal procedure). But then he left them on, after vacating the crossing runway I was wondering why. They were left on, also when we parked and when he shut down the engines and went to GPU-power. This puzzled me, as I have never seen that before. They're quite bright and lit up the entire stand (and the adjacent ones as well).

He could of course have forgotten about them but they're kinda hard to miss at night-time. Also isn't there a checklist, which specifically turns them off or is that a pilot discretion thing? Also - if it's not a discretion thing - is there some kind of penalty or sanctions for leaving them on? Is that maybe depended on the specific airport or?

Thanks for all your answers 🙂

Edited October 7, 2023 by anden145

[HUSSAR 272]

Most likely left on in error. It happens from time to time, especially when they fly a few sectors per day. They must have been getting tired by the time you pulled up to the gate. We’re flying Easyjet from Nice to Lisbon next week, it will be our first flight with them. 

[stans 704]

Maybe it was an aircraft made by Carenado/Alabeo as most of theirs have the beacon and strobes tied to the same switch. 😂

[jon b 2,050]

2 hours ago, stans said:

Maybe it was an aircraft made by Carenado/Alabeo as most of theirs have the beacon and strobes tied to the same switch. 😂

Yes, and then the doors wouldn’t open !

Almost certainly forgotten to switch them off again after crossing the runway.

They would normally be switched off as part of the after landing scan by the pilot not flying ( or whatever they’re called this week, pilot monitoring maybe) When they’re turned back on to cross a runway there’s no memory trigger to switch them off again, it’s very easy to forget especially when you’re having taxi instructions quickly barked at you by ATC.

Normally you’d get the ground crew coming on the headset once you’ve parked to discreetly mention the strobes are still on.

[mwilk 1,107]

2 hours ago, jon b said:

 

Normally you’d get the ground crew coming on the headset once you’ve parked to discreetly mention the strobes are still on.

The only thing more annoying than having the crew forget to turn off the strobe lights is them forgetting to turn off the taxi light as you marshal them in. You don't realize how bright those strobes are until you experience them up close.

[anden145 2,285]

Thanks for all the answers, people! 🙂 Greatly appreciated.

I thought as much, as they probably forgot to turn them off... Or maybe - since easyJet's turnaround-time is around 5-minutes - he just thought "Oh hell - I'll just leave them on; I need to turn them on in a couple of minutes anyway..." 😉 

He'll probably get teased by the other pilots... 😄 The reason I asked is just that I haven't seen it before. I don't know about Copenhagen, but are there any airports, where this is sanctioned (taxi, strobes, landing lights etc) or MUST be followed? Or is this always more (should-follow) advice for practicing good airman-ship (so to speak) 😉

Thanks again! I knew I could count on AVSIM.

Edited October 7, 2023 by anden145

[Christopher Low 5,376]

There must be quite a few annoyed virtual ground crew across all of the airports in the UK, because my 737NGX is lit up like a Christmas tree at all times

[mwilk 1,107]

31 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

There must be quite a few annoyed virtual ground crew across all of the airports in the UK, because my 737NGX is lit up like a Christmas tree at all times

Christopher, those switches are there for a reason. Please use them. Your ground crew will thank you for it.

[Christopher Low 5,376]

But they are such pretty lights!