Aircraft navigation lights, meaning the red, green, and white position lights on the wingtips and tail, must be on from sunset to sunrise on any aircraft operating in the United States.1eCFR. 14 CFR 91.209 – Aircraft Lights Anti-collision lights follow a stricter rule: if the aircraft is equipped with them, they must be on for all operations, day and night. Two different triggers, one regulation, and confusing them is a common source of violations.
Position Lights: Sunset to Sunrise
Federal regulations prohibit operating an aircraft without lighted position lights during the period from sunset to sunrise.1eCFR. 14 CFR 91.209 – Aircraft Lights Position lights are the colored navigation lights mounted on the exterior: red on the left, green on the right (spaced as far apart as practical), and a white light facing aft.2eCFR. 14 CFR 23.2530 – External and Cockpit Lighting The color arrangement tells other pilots which way you’re pointed. A red light off your right wing means the other aircraft is heading toward you.
The trigger is sunset, not darkness. Even in the extended twilight when visibility is still decent, the lights must be on. After sunrise, position lights are no longer legally required in flight, though many pilots leave them on out of habit.
Anti-Collision Lights: All the Time
Anti-collision lights operate under a broader rule. Any aircraft equipped with an anti-collision light system must keep those lights on during all operations, including in daylight.3Federal Aviation Administration. Aeronautical Information Manual Section 3 – Airport Operations The requirement is not limited to the sunset-to-sunrise window. An anti-collision system may include rotating beacons, strobes, or both, and the lights can be red or white depending on the aircraft.
There is one exception. The pilot-in-command can turn off anti-collision lights when operating conditions make it safer to do so.1eCFR. 14 CFR 91.209 – Aircraft Lights Flying through clouds or heavy fog at night is the classic case. Strobes reflecting off moisture droplets can cause intense glare and spatial disorientation, and turning them off in that situation is the right call. The FAA also recommends switching off supplementary strobes on the ground when they could affect ground personnel or other pilots.3Federal Aviation Administration. Aeronautical Information Manual Section 3 – Airport Operations
The Alaska Rule
Sunset-to-sunrise doesn’t work at high latitudes where the sun barely sets in summer and barely rises in winter. In Alaska, position lights must be on whenever a prominent unlighted object cannot be seen from a distance of three statute miles, or whenever the sun is more than six degrees below the horizon.1eCFR. 14 CFR 91.209 – Aircraft Lights The visibility-based standard replaces the ordinary trigger and reflects the prolonged twilight Alaska pilots deal with year-round.
Parked and Anchored Aircraft
Lighting requirements don’t end when the wheels stop turning. From sunset to sunrise, you cannot park or move an aircraft in or near a night flight operations area unless one of three conditions is met: the aircraft is clearly illuminated by external lighting, it has lighted position lights, or it sits in an area marked by obstruction lights.1eCFR. 14 CFR 91.209 – Aircraft Lights Any one of the three satisfies the rule.
For anchored aircraft such as seaplanes on water, the regulation requires lighted anchor lights unless you are in an area where maritime vessels are not required to display them.1eCFR. 14 CFR 91.209 – Aircraft Lights
Three Definitions of Night That Trip Pilots Up
Aviation regulations use three different time references built around darkness, and they do not overlap neatly. Confusing them leads to logging errors and lighting violations.
- Position lights (14 CFR 91.209): Sunset to sunrise. This is the broadest window, starting earlier in the evening and ending later in the morning than the other two.
- Regulatory “night” (14 CFR 1.1): The time between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight. Evening civil twilight starts at sunset and ends when the sun is six degrees below the horizon. This definition is narrower than sunset-to-sunrise, meaning position lights must already be on before “night” officially begins.4eCFR. 14 CFR 1.1 – General Definitions
- Night currency (14 CFR 61.57): For logging the takeoffs and landings you need to carry passengers at night, “night” means one hour after sunset to one hour before sunrise. This is the narrowest window of the three.5Federal Aviation Administration. Airplane Flying Handbook – Chapter 11 Night Operations
The practical takeaway: turn position lights on at sunset and leave them on until sunrise. That satisfies the lighting requirement regardless of which definition of night applies to other regulations.
What Happens If You Get It Wrong
The FAA treats lighting violations like other Part 91 infractions. Enforcement can range from a counseling letter for a first-time inadvertent violation to certificate suspension for repeated or willful noncompliance. The agency’s compliance philosophy generally favors education over punishment for unintentional mistakes, but a lighting violation that contributes to a near-miss or incident draws much heavier scrutiny. Operating without position lights at night is the kind of infraction that can end up as evidence of broader carelessness in an enforcement case, particularly when it coincides with other regulatory problems on the same flight.