Commissioning of aerodrome lighting systems – Draft AC 139.C-11 v1.0

This consultation asked industry to provide feedback on the draft advisory circular (AC) on the commissioning of aerodrome lighting systems.

Commissioning is a final check of a new, upgraded or replaced aerodrome lighting system prior to being made available for operational use at night or in low visibility conditions. It is designed to ensure that the installed system is complete, compliant, and useable.

The revision of this AC was triggered by the revision of Part 139 (Aerodromes) Manual of Standards (MOS) 2019.

The consultation has now closed, and a summary of the feedback is provided below.

A total of 13 responses were received from five qualified flight checkers, 3 aerodrome managers, 3 lighting supplier/consultants and 2 air navigation service provider personnel.

Of the respondents, 12 consented to their submissions being made public.

Summary of feedback

In addition to some relatively minor editorial and typographical matters raised, the main actionable subjects that were identified included:

• ground check procedures and documentation requirements (including coordination with air traffic control which has been partially addressed)
• qualified flight checker approvals
• optional lighting during flight check.

There were some comments on important matters that could not be addressed within the scope of this AC. The reasons why include:

• requirement established by Part 139 MOS
• more applicable to the lighting planning and design phases
• insufficient data to support a change at this stage.

Respondents who made submissions on these topics are encouraged to raise these issues in appropriate consultative forums ahead of future amendments to the Part 139 MOS.

Each comment was reviewed and, where actionable, incorporated in the text of the AC. All comments were greatly appreciated as the resulting AC is a better product for it.

With respect to the 3 areas of actionable comment, the following summarises the actions taken.

The development of the ground check procedure details and the addition of a checklist template addressed several comments. Firstly, it is a direct response to those who identified a disparity in the guidance provided on flight checks as compared to ground checks and the lack of guidance for documenting ground checks. Other comments addressed in these changes include ensuring technical PAL specifications are met and lighting activation and control by third parties is checked.

The requirements for and approval of qualified flight checkers has been changed considering comments received and changes to flight operations regulations. Firstly, a qualified flight checker no longer needs to be a pilot. The flight safety aspects that appeared in the previous AC are now covered by Part 91 of CASR. As such, the qualified flight checker role is now focused on lighting standards and performance.

In the previous AC, there were some non-runway lights included in the flight check procedures. While it is not a MOS 139 requirement to check these lights, it was decided to retain the guidance material on checking them, if the aerodrome operator wished to have it done. A section on the aerodrome operator establishing a scope for the flight check has been added and the word optional has been added to the relevant sections of the AC and the checklist.