Narrative:

Upon landing at las at XX30 local we noticed the taxi lights (blue) were not on. In their place the green centerline taxi lights were on. Although adequate on straight txwys, the centerline lights do not give adequate lateral reference to taxiway width. Also not every type aircraft has the same turn radius designated by the centerline lights. I strongly recommend that the blue taxiway edge lights be turned on for all night operations at las. Upon blocking aircraft at the gate, we had to contend with some cabin items and forgot to call ATC back to ask about the night taxiway lighting procedures. Callback conversation with facility representative revealed the following information: call to the facility revealed that most txwys have both centerline lights and edge lights, however, some txwys only have the centerline lights. Suspect that the reporter was using a taxiway without edge lights. Reporter does not state which taxiway this occurred on. The facility representative also said that the tower only has 1 switch to turn on the taxiway lights there. They do not have separate switches for the centerline lights and the edge lights. No other complaints have been received on this subject.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CAPT OF AN MLG ACR ACFT COMPLAINTS OF INADEQUATE ARPT TXWY LIGHTING WHEN ONLY THE GREEN CENTERLINE LIGHTING IS USED WITHOUT THE BLUE BORDER LIGHTS ON WHEN JUDGING THE NEEDED CLRNC DISTANT IN TURNS DURING NIGHT OPS.

Narrative: UPON LNDG AT LAS AT XX30 LCL WE NOTICED THE TAXI LIGHTS (BLUE) WERE NOT ON. IN THEIR PLACE THE GREEN CENTERLINE TAXI LIGHTS WERE ON. ALTHOUGH ADEQUATE ON STRAIGHT TXWYS, THE CENTERLINE LIGHTS DO NOT GIVE ADEQUATE LATERAL REF TO TXWY WIDTH. ALSO NOT EVERY TYPE ACFT HAS THE SAME TURN RADIUS DESIGNATED BY THE CENTERLINE LIGHTS. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT THE BLUE TXWY EDGE LIGHTS BE TURNED ON FOR ALL NIGHT OPS AT LAS. UPON BLOCKING ACFT AT THE GATE, WE HAD TO CONTEND WITH SOME CABIN ITEMS AND FORGOT TO CALL ATC BACK TO ASK ABOUT THE NIGHT TXWY LIGHTING PROCS. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH FACILITY REPRESENTATIVE REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: CALL TO THE FACILITY REVEALED THAT MOST TXWYS HAVE BOTH CENTERLINE LIGHTS AND EDGE LIGHTS, HOWEVER, SOME TXWYS ONLY HAVE THE CENTERLINE LIGHTS. SUSPECT THAT THE RPTR WAS USING A TXWY WITHOUT EDGE LIGHTS. RPTR DOES NOT STATE WHICH TXWY THIS OCCURRED ON. THE FACILITY REPRESENTATIVE ALSO SAID THAT THE TWR ONLY HAS 1 SWITCH TO TURN ON THE TXWY LIGHTS THERE. THEY DO NOT HAVE SEPARATE SWITCHES FOR THE CENTERLINE LIGHTS AND THE EDGE LIGHTS. NO OTHER COMPLAINTS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED ON THIS SUBJECT.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.