Narrative:

I was working in the pattern with a student. I was communicating my position in the pattern and communicating with a freighter who was preparing for departure. An air carrier aircraft entered the general area and while I was on approach to the runway; the air carrier aircraft used his microphone to increase the runway lights to full intensity (7 clicks) from their low intensity condition (3 clicks) without first announcing or communicating on the CTAF. The shock of dealing with the runway light intensity being increased to full without warning creates a dangerous situation for the pilot in the aircraft about to land. There was continued talk on the CTAF between me and the freighter about this situation. I continued around the pattern again and departed without communicating my departure and the air carrier aircraft again increased the lighting intensity to full without first communicating! It was only after becoming established on the approach and inbound that he announced anything on the frequency. The short sighted behavior of the inbound pilot is setting the stage for an accident caused by the blinding of a pilot in the final stages of the landing process.the aeronautical information manual in 2-1-8-c tells how to change the lighting intensity of runway lights. I believe that it should also tell the pilot how to act responsibly by stating: 'before initiating or changing the intensity of airport lighting an inbound pilot should ascertain that another aircraft is not in the landing phase of flight at the destination airport.'

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C172 Instructor Pilot reported that an air carrier pilot caused an unsafe situation when he increased the CTAF airport runway lights to their maximum intensity without warning while the C172 was on short final.

Narrative: I was working in the pattern with a student. I was communicating my position in the pattern and communicating with a freighter who was preparing for departure. An air carrier aircraft entered the general area and while I was on approach to the runway; the air carrier aircraft used his microphone to increase the runway lights to full intensity (7 clicks) from their low intensity condition (3 clicks) without first announcing or communicating on the CTAF. The shock of dealing with the runway light intensity being increased to full without warning creates a dangerous situation for the pilot in the aircraft about to land. There was continued talk on the CTAF between me and the freighter about this situation. I continued around the pattern again and departed without communicating my departure and the air carrier aircraft again increased the lighting intensity to full without first communicating! It was only after becoming established on the approach and inbound that he announced anything on the frequency. The short sighted behavior of the inbound pilot is setting the stage for an accident caused by the blinding of a pilot in the final stages of the landing process.The Aeronautical Information Manual in 2-1-8-c tells how to change the lighting intensity of runway lights. I believe that it should also tell the pilot how to act responsibly by stating: 'Before initiating or changing the intensity of airport lighting an inbound pilot should ascertain that another aircraft is not in the landing phase of flight at the destination airport.'

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.