I was out walking the dog, and noticed a plane flying overhead, fairly low. It looked and sounded like a small prop plane. It is 10:29 and dark outside. The plane had NO lights on of any kind. No blinking lights, no continuous light, no light at all.
Is this allowed? It seems…wrong.
Sec. 91.209 — Aircraft lights.
No person may:
(a) During the period from sunset to sunrise (or, in Alaska, during the period a prominent unlighted object cannot be seen from a distance of 3 statute miles or the sun is more than 6 degrees below the horizon)—
(1) Operate an aircraft unless it has lighted position lights;
(2) Park or move an aircraft in, or in dangerous proximity to, a night flight operations area of an airport unless the aircraft—
(i) Is clearly illuminated;
(ii) Has lighted position lights; or
(iii) is in an area that is marked by obstruction lights;
(3) Anchor an aircraft unless the aircraft—
(i) Has lighted anchor lights; or
(ii) Is in an area where anchor lights are not required on vessels; or
(b) Operate an aircraft that is equipped with an anticollision light system, unless it has lighted anticollision lights. However, the anticollision lights need not be lighted when the pilot-in-command determines that, because of operating conditions, it would be in the interest of safety to turn the lights off.
Just curious, does the FAA have jurisdiction over federal aircraft? I know they have no jurisdiction over the military. How about the USFS, USDA, DOJ etc?
The FAA does have jurisdiction over the military outside of military controlled airspace and the same is true with the rest of them. The FAA is a federal agency after all. Even Air Force One has to talk to FAA controllers when they are in the U.S. It is a safety issue for everyone in the air not a matter of jurisdiction. There aren’t any overlapping and competing groups over most airspace. The FAA is it. There are special FAA waivers and approvals for certain military activities and other things like airshows but they still control the airspace. I don’t know of any that would allow a plane to fly at controlled altitudes with no lights on at night. That is a needless risk.
My apologies, I meant from a legal enforcement jurisdiction or civil administrative jurisdiction. Things like licensing of pilots, certification of aircraft, investigation of accidents, setting of safety standards, etc.
Quick answer is yes, they do have to have lights on. But interestingly, there are several definitions of “night” as far as the FAA regulations are concerned, depending on what you want to know.
The answer would be no for most of these. For example, military pilots do not need a civilian license and military planes do not have to meet normal certification standards.
I use to work for a company that had an exemption against the requirement to have lights on at night. We carried out civilian surveillance operations for Australian Customs and under certain circumstances we could operate lights out in order to remain covert.
In the case of the op, it could be that the pilot simply forgot to turn them on, it happens.