Night Flights...Dimmed Lights!!

[footymum]

Can anyone tell me why planes have to dim their cabin lights for take-off and landing please...my son was asking me this this question this morning at 1 o'clock as we were starting our descent into Manchester...many thanks in advance..footymum

[jno]

so that if the plane crashed people's eyes wouldn't be dazzled by bright lights and they'd be more accustomed to darkness outside, adn to seeing exit signs etc while still inside

[Buenchico]

Additionally, control tower staff are required to watch each aircraft taking off, so that they can look for anything unusual (such as something falling from the aircraft or signs of an engine fire). At night, the amount of light coming from an undimmed cabin could make it difficult to pick out the first signs of fire. With the cabin lights dimmed, the only bright light coming from the aircraft should be from the navigation lights; anything else would be regarded as suspicious and immediately reported to the captain.

Chris

[heathfield]

There's also a slight advantage in that it allows less power to be taken from the engines in generating the electricity.

(And the shutters on the windows have to be kept raised so a rescue crew can look into the crashed plane. All happy stuff!).

[jno]

no stars for me, I am outraged... but my answer was correct (as are the other ones), not a joke

[sddsddean]

Absolutely jno. Here you go ***