Crj-700 flight crew reported departing airport with no operating control tower without runway lights...

Attributes
ACN	1699838
Time
Date	201911
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Regional Jet 700 ER/LR (CRJ700)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Takeoff
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Incursion Runway

Narrative:

After conducting what I thought was a normal flight; while passengers disembarked; a jumpseating pilot advised us that we had conducted our takeoff without runway lights. If this was the case; it was due to my lack of utilization of the available pilot controlled lighting. Contributing factors include the aircraft lights that illuminated our position on the airport so well that I didn't realize the lack of lighting. Also; the ground was snow covered which; when combined with the ambient light; gave the illusion of a fully lit airport. In fact; while in position on the runway for takeoff; I even advised my first officer to 'stay on the centerline' as we didn't have centerline lights!! Also contributing was my unfamiliarity with this airport. I need to have a heightened awareness of conditions at uncontrolled airports and properly get things set up for our operations!

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ-700 flight crew reported departing airport with no operating Control Tower without runway lights.

Narrative: After conducting what I thought was a normal flight; while passengers disembarked; a jumpseating pilot advised us that we had conducted our takeoff without runway lights. If this was the case; it was due to my lack of utilization of the available pilot controlled lighting. Contributing factors include the aircraft lights that illuminated our position on the airport so well that I didn't realize the lack of lighting. Also; the ground was snow covered which; when combined with the ambient light; gave the illusion of a fully lit airport. In fact; while in position on the runway for takeoff; I even advised my FO to 'stay on the centerline' as we didn't have centerline lights!! Also contributing was my unfamiliarity with this airport. I need to have a heightened awareness of conditions at uncontrolled airports and properly get things set up for our operations!

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.