Back to Squawk list
  • 44

49ers Levi's Stadium is blinding pilots

Übermittelt
 
Levi's Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers and host of Super Bowl 50, may be a serious airport safety hazard. According to NBC Bay Area, pilots have been filling complaints to the Federal Aviation Administration because the stadium's lights are blindingly bright at night, making it difficult to land at nearby San Jose Mineta International Airport. (www.sbnation.com) Mehr...

Sort type: [Top] [Newest]


Moviela
Ric Wernicke 2
Pack a pair of Ray-Bans and you're clear to land.
preacher1
preacher1 3
Haven't seen it but how cum the lights are pointed skyward rather than on the field?

joelwiley
joel wiley 7
The way they're playing at times, they might not want the field lighted too well.
aidannorman
aidannorman 1
That`s what I was wondering

[This comment has been downvoted. Show anyway.]

vulcansunray
vulcansunray 1
How come FAA signed off on this project if there is an obvious problem with night flights?
aidannorman
aidannorman 1
Just looked at google earth and yes the stadium is right on the approach path most GA planes would use
AOE
Generally speaking, I'd say most aircraft (GA, commercial) come in over the downtown. The stadium on the horizon for those approaches would definitely be blinding.
randomguy
randomguy 1
You are correct. About 90% of the time they are on 30L/R
preacher1
preacher1 2
Well, I can see it's on the approach path but I ask again, how come the lights show to the sky rather than the playing field. I have came in over and to the side of many stadiums but other than them lighting their area, they definitely haven't been laser quality in the cockpit.
DerekCooks
Derek Thomas 1
Googling for more news stories, it sounds like the major problem is the jumbotron boards
joelwiley
joel wiley 4
Maybe they could handle it like the landing lights at an unstaffed tower. 5 clicks on the right frequency and the jumbotron shuts off for the approach and landing.
preacher1
preacher1 2
That seems to the gist I'm getting to.
paultrubits
paul trubits 0
The Monday Night Football people will have a field day with that. Can't be any worse than following a minivan down the highway with porn on the DVR. Got to be any easy fix for this.
MCole1
Michael Cole 1
I've been blinded by the lights at Levi's stadium, and it annoyed the #### out of me. Too hard to concentrate on flying when you have a very large light shining through the cockpit.
Kingstonian
Mike Hill 1
This is a really good (do I mean bad?) example of outrageous light pollution. Ask an astronomer about the ill effects of such misdirected light.
joelwiley
joel wiley 2
https://lowell.edu/in-depth/dark-skies-bright-stars/dark-sky-lighting/
Kingstonian
Mike Hill 1
Thanks Joel - good article
Bobqat
Bob Harrington 1
Hmmm. Point about a bazillionth of the wattage used by the stadium at a plane via a laser pointer, and you get to share a cell with Bluto for a few years....
randomguy
randomguy 1
Yea, but what's more "fun" to play with? a 2W laser pointer or a 2W LED flashlight?
tommyjahnke
Thomas Jahnke 1
Isn't there a TFR around the stadium during a game?
cod360
Kells Moore 1
Yes, but apparently not during the light testing. Guess mandating a TFR for 10 mins is impractical in the eyes of the FAA.
randomguy
randomguy 1
The TFR doesn't apply to regularly scheduled commercial flights either.
NickFlightX
NickFlightX 1
I have been told that when they were doing all the studies on the stadium, they did not take into account the brightness of the jumbotron wehich they should have done. Source is someone who worked on the project.
WhiteKnight77
WhiteKnight77 1
wall.gif

Someone screwed the pooch for sure. I do not ever recall the lights at Anaheim Stadium ever causing problems when flying the pattern at Los Alamitos. Then again, back then, they didn't really have the big TV screens and such. :/
toolguy105
toolguy105 0
Stupid question; Most landings are crosswind anyway, is it possible to change the direction of the runway for Sunday nights or When the stadium is in use at night?
randomguy
randomguy 2
Most landings aren't cross-wind. Also because of the proximity of SFO and Oakland, changing the direction of one requires changing all three (plus Moffett field, etc.)

https://web.archive.org/web/20130216222321/http://sq23.cawg.cap.gov/Downloads/NorcalTRACON-031004.pdf

Starting on page 40 or so.

Anmelden

Haben Sie kein Konto? Jetzt (kostenlos) registrieren für kundenspezifische Funktionen, Flugbenachrichtigungen und vieles mehr!
Wussten Sie schon, dass die Flugverfolgung auf FlightAware durch Werbung finanziert wird?
Sie können uns dabei helfen, FlightAware weiterhin kostenlos anzubieten, indem Sie Werbung auf FlightAware.com zulassen. Wir engagieren uns dafür, dass unsere Werbung auch in Zukunft zweckmäßig und unaufdringlich ist und Sie beim Surfen nicht stört. Das Erstellen einer Positivliste für Anzeigen auf FlightAware geht schnell und unkompliziert. Alternativ können Sie sich auch für eines unserer Premium-Benutzerkonten entscheiden..
Schließen