Aircraft Warning Light

These obstructions, whose illumination is essential, should be equipped with low, medium or high intensity warning lights, or a combination of these.

What height obstructions should be equipped with air traffic warning lights?

In the case of a new investment, the need to install air traffic warning lights is defined in Annex 5, item 12. which reads as follows: "For the construction of all buildings within the safety zone of the airport and ground installations established by law for the safety of aviation, within 15 kilometres of the airport boundary, for buildings more than 40 metres high, for buildings more than 100 metres high in areas intended for development, for buildings more than 50 metres high in areas not intended for development, for extensions to buildings, and for buildings more than 40 metres high within 500 metres of the edge of the heliport and helipad site".

What types of aircraft warning lights are distinguished?

There are low, medium or high intensity warning lights. Low intensity warning lights have a luminous intensity of 10-32 cd, medium intensity obstruction warning lights have a luminous intensity of 2000 cd.

High-intensity light sources can indicate obstacles to air traffic participants with up to 200,000 cd. Of course, the 3 groups of warning lights differ not only in this respect, but also in colour and whether they emit a steady or flashing light.

What characteristics should aircraft warning lights have?

In all cases, they must be able to withstand harsh weather conditions. It probably goes without saying that they must have maximum resistance to wind loads, to vibration, but they must also be able to withstand surges caused by lightning. This high resistance is provided by the dielectric polyurethane resin body.

The Sirena SOLAR NAVILITE obstruction warning light, available from the DND Telecom webshop, is equipped with a continuous red light arranged in a 360° horizontal beam. This is important to minimise their visibility from the ground. In addition, this luminaire's 64 LED active redundancy guarantees continuity of marking even if one or more circuits fail.

Since continuity of operation is very important for this type of warning light, Sirena's solution makes the use of warning lights with redundant circuits redundant. In addition, the LED technology guarantees a long lifetime, estimated at more than 10 years, and low power consumption, which is also expected from these lights.

Aircraft warning lights must comply with which organisation's standards?

The design and manufacture of warning lights for aircraft and helicopters is subject to strict international regulations. These also regulate the requirements for this type of light. Low intensity aircraft warning lights are subject to ICAO regulations.

ICAO stands for the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the UN's specialised agency for this industry. ICAO deals with international civil aviation, established by a convention signed by 52 states in Chicago on 7 December 1944.

What are the characteristics of Sirena aircraft warning lights?

Low-intensity obstruction lights, available from DND Telecom's webshop, draw 12V DC and can be powered by solar charging. They are red in colour, have a brightness of 10 cd and emit a constant red light, plus a vertical beam width of 10°.

This classifies them as type A low intensity warning lights. They can be fixed in position by means of an M5 screw and the corresponding mounting bracket. As already mentioned above, this type of light source must be able to withstand severe weather conditions, which is why Sirena low-intensity warning lights are IP66 protected.