Not dimming lights for landing

Noo

Hi all,

Long time lurker on this forum, first time poster.
So i know the emergency requirements for dimming the cabin lights for take off and landing, but i just got off a flight that landed in the dark and didnt dim the cabin lights for landing. They definately did for take-off. Would there be a reason for this? Surely its not a case of them just forgetting?

Sorry if this is a simple question, but its been bugging me :-)

L1011

Its not a legal requirement in every country/regulatory regime - where were you landing?

Steve

The reason - as far as I know - is to accustom the passengers eyes to darkness in the event on an evacuation, and also to allow the flight crew to see flames outside of an emergency exit before opening it.

I've not seen this procedure happen much outside of Ireland.

billie1b

Steve wrote: »

The reason - as far as I know - is to accustom the passengers eyes to darkness in the event on an evacuation, and also to allow the flight crew to see flames outside of an emergency exit before opening it.

I've not seen this procedure happen much outside of Ireland.

The reason is to accustom pax and crews to their surroundings incase of an emergency, whether it be day or night.
Flight crew cannot see their engines from the flight deck except maybe on turbo prop aircraft, window blinds are left up for this reason so as cabin crew and pax know which side they can evacuate if there is a fire.
I've been on a load of flights the last few months and 4 of them were on a local carrier, each time landing with them in both destination airport and Dublin airport neither of these rules were followed. Suppose it depends on the crew on duty.

Steve

billie1b wrote: »

The reason is to accustom pax and crews to their surroundings incase of an emergency, whether it be day or night.
Flight crew cannot see their engines from the flight deck except maybe on turbo prop aircraft, window blinds are left up for this reason so as cabin crew and pax know which side they can evacuate if there is a fire.
I've been on a load of flights the last few months and 4 of them were on a local carrier, each time landing with them in both destination airport and Dublin airport neither of these rules were followed. Suppose it depends on the crew on duty.

Subtle difference but well explained.

faoiarvok

I understood another reason for leaving window blinds up was to allow rescue crews outside to see if there are still passengers on board after an evacuation.

Locker10a

faoiarvok wrote: »

I understood another reason for leaving window blinds up was to allow rescue crews outside to see if there are still passengers on board after an evacuation.

Correct.
The crew may have simply forgotten about the lights, sometimes if you're rushing about during landing you're lucky to get to your seat before landing and in haste may forget to dim the lights.
But you're correct they should be dimmed for take off and landing when it's dark.
Some airlines standardise the procedure and dim the lights for every take off/landing despite outside natural light.
Some aircraft have have much brighter "dim mode" than others, e.g. 737s cabin lights dim more is much darker than on the A320s

Noo

L1011 wrote: »

Its not a legal requirement in every country/regulatory regime - where were you landing?

It was a Qantas 737, landing in Australia. I'd imagine they'd be pretty on top of regulations.

Locker10a

Noo wrote: »

L1011 wrote: »

Its not a legal requirement in every country/regulatory regime - where were you landing?

It was a Qantas 737, landing in Australia. I'd imagine they'd be pretty on top of regulations.

Yeah they would/should be anyway, plus the fact they did it for take off shows it is part of their procedure. The senior crew member who'd probably be responsible for doing this either forgot, or selected the incorrect setting and didn't notice. Or had genuine reason for Not doing it but this was not made public, however I'd struggle to think of a reason this would be the case.

Pat Dunne

Noo wrote: »

Hi all,

Long time lurker on this forum, first time poster.
So i know the emergency requirements for dimming the cabin lights for take off and landing, but i just got off a flight that landed in the dark and didnt dim the cabin lights for landing. They definately did for take-off. Would there be a reason for this? Surely its not a case of them just forgetting?

Sorry if this is a simple question, but its been bugging me :-)

What exactly is bugging you in regard in regard of this issue?

Noo

Pat Dunne wrote: »

What exactly is bugging you in regard in regard of this issue?

That there was possibly a very simple answer to a very simple question, like they just forgot, but id no way of finding out (google was no use). With the opportunity to maybe learn something new i asked an aviation forum.

Pat Dunne

Noo wrote: »

That there was possibly a very simple answer to a very simple question, like they just forgot, but id no way of finding out (google was no use). With the opportunity to maybe learn something new i asked an aviation forum.

All well and good learning something new. However what exactly is bugging you about what is more than likely simply down to a human oversight half a world away? Did you feel your safety was compromised in any way?

Mebuntu

Noo wrote: »

Surely its not a case of them just forgetting?

Don't be put off asking questions on this Forum by the attitudes you might see from one or two.

I'd be reasonably sure that they just plain forgot. When you travel frequently you find these things happen. One example: A while ago I was travelling ex-DUB on a well-known British airline who would claim to have the very best of crews working for them. I was one of the first to board and immediately noticed that the seat belt signs were off. Refuelling was not in progress. Gradually, the flight filled up and we were ready to go and the seat belt signs were still off. We pushed back and commenced taxi and the seat belt signs were still off. The CC began their checking down the aisle and I was mischievously tempted to undo my belt just out of curiosity to see what they would say when they saw it undone and I would point out the unlit signs. This temptation was resisted. Instead, with a smile, I whispered in the CC's ear. She looked up and then winked back with a smile and disappeared back up the aisle presumably to notify the flight deck. Not too long afterwards the signs lit up.

Locker10a

Mebuntu wrote: »

Noo wrote: »

Surely its not a case of them just forgetting?

Don't be put off asking questions on this Forum by the attitudes you might see from one or two.

I'd be reasonably sure that they just plain forgot. When you travel frequently you find these things happen. One example: A while ago I was travelling ex-DUB on a well-known British airline who would claim to have the very best of crews working for them. I was one of the first to board and immediately noticed that the seat belt signs were off. Refuelling was not in progress. Gradually, the flight filled up and we were ready to go and the seat belt signs were still off. We pushed back and commenced taxi and the seat belt signs were still off. The CC began their checking down the aisle and I was mischievously tempted to undo my belt just out of curiosity to see what they would say when they saw it undone and I would point out the unlit signs. This temptation was resisted. Instead, with a smile, I whispered in the CC's ear. She looked up and then winked back with a smile and disappeared back up the aisle presumably to notify the flight deck. Not too long afterwards the signs lit up.

You're absolutely right these things happen! what's worse is when it's forgotten to be switched on for landing, many a time either myself or a colleague have exclaimed "we're very low aren't we" only to realise no indication of decent had been given and cue a mad panic to prepare the cabin for landing ... humans sometimes forget!

Noo

Thanks Mebuntu.
While not a case of forgetting, your story happened to remind me of flying on a Chinese airline a couple of months ago. They were flying into an english speaking country and played the first safety video in chinese (obviously), but because they started it pretty late into taxiing they didnt have time for the english version, so pressed fast forward on the video and sped it up. They would've been better off just not bothering with it

Locker10a

Noo wrote: »

Thanks Mebuntu.
While not a case of forgetting, your story happened to remind me of flying on a Chinese airline a couple of months ago. They were flying into an english speaking country and played the first safety video in chinese (obviously), but because they started it pretty late into taxiing they didnt have time for the english version, so pressed fast forward on the video and sped it up. They would've been better off just not bothering with it

You're joking!!! That's actually hilarious!!!!

Noo

Locker10a wrote: »

You're joking!!! That's actually hilarious!!!!

It wasnt an airline well known for its high quality service. The whole flight experience was hilarious in a nervous laugh type of way....i was in no way confident that that crew would know what to do in an emergency!

Tenger

Pat Dunne wrote: »

All well and good learning something new. However what exactly is bugging you about what is more than likely simply down to a human oversight half a world away? Did you feel your safety was compromised in any way?

The OP asked a question as a point of curiosity. This subject has been raised before in this forum. They did not make a drama over the fact, merely asked a question. No need to snipe at them