Aircraft landed on taxiway at night. Pilot asked tower if they were lined up with the runway. At nig...

Narrative:

[TRACON] called and informed me aircraft X was inbound with a left main gear issue. I informed the controller in charge (controller in charge) of problem. Aircraft X called approximately 6 miles east of the field; I cleared aircraft X to land. Aircraft X called on about 3 mile final and asked if we had the runway lights turned up; the pilot was searching for the runway. We turned the lights on the highest setting. I asked aircraft X if he had the runway in sight; he said he has it now. On short final aircraft X asked if he was ok where he is landing with the green center line lights; I told him affirmative. After aircraft X landed the controller in charge informed me that he had landed on a taxiway.I've been trying to think about what could have happened differently to prevent this from happening. Looking back; when aircraft X was unsure where to land on short final I should have sent him around. I could have turned all of the airport lighting off except for the runway lights. It appeared he was on course for the runway. At night it is difficult to tell. We didn't know that the lowest settings would turn off the lights for the runway. We could have used the setting for one mile instead.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Aircraft landed on taxiway at night. Pilot asked Tower if they were lined up with the runway. At night with the current light settings it appeared to the reporter that the aircraft was aligned with the runway.

Narrative: [TRACON] called and informed me Aircraft X was inbound with a left main gear issue. I informed the CIC (Controller in Charge) of problem. Aircraft X called approximately 6 miles east of the field; I cleared Aircraft X to land. Aircraft X called on about 3 mile final and asked if we had the runway lights turned up; the pilot was searching for the runway. We turned the lights on the highest setting. I asked Aircraft X if he had the runway in sight; he said he has it now. On short final Aircraft X asked if he was ok where he is landing with the green center line lights; I told him affirmative. After Aircraft X landed the CIC informed me that he had landed on a Taxiway.I've been trying to think about what could have happened differently to prevent this from happening. Looking back; when Aircraft X was unsure where to land on short final I should have sent him around. I could have turned all of the airport lighting off except for the runway lights. It appeared he was on course for the runway. At night it is difficult to tell. We didn't know that the lowest settings would turn off the lights for the runway. We could have used the setting for one mile instead.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1302236
Time
Date	201510
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	LIT.Airport
State Reference	AR
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Landing
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Local Trainee
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Developmental
Experience	Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 0
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Clearance Ground Incursion Taxiway

Aircraft landed on taxiway at night. Pilot asked tower if they were lined up with the runway. At night with the current light settings it appeared to the reporter that the aircraft was aligned with the runway.