air travel

[nice_pitbull]

why do they dim the cabin lights when coming in to land

[Pinotage]

Its to adjust peoples eyes to low light conditions, so that if there is an emergency and the lights go out and you have to evacuate you don't suffer night blindness

[Farrukh]

Is this an absolute, confirmed reason? Just seems a bit strange to me. I'll check with a few airline buddies and get back to you.

[arranj]

pinotage is correct

[tief]

I was interested to know this too, so asked my best mate (QANTAS pilot) - this is what he said ... It is related to carrying out an emergency evacuation of the aircraft in case the pilot screws the landing. The concept for lights dimmed at night is that it gets your eyes adjusted to a lower ambient level of light such that you will have better night vision if you have to get out in a hurry. However, it differs according to the regulations of different countries. In Australia, we are required to have maximum cabin lighting available on landing supposedly so as to provide maximum lighting if people have to get out. This is stupid in most cases - if people have to get out in a hurry, then we turn the engines off, and all the lights go out except for the emergency (battery powered) lights which equates to the previous dimmed level.