Recently I watched a FedEx 777F land and taxi to the gate and noticed it had two white "tailights." On the upper edge of the very end of the "notched" tail was a strobe which was turned off once the plane was on the ground. Directly below it, on the bottom edge of the tail, was a small white light and it stayed on after the plane came to a halt, the ground power connected and the engines shutdown.
Are there any other commercial jetliners with "taillights"? None come to mind.

Pretty much 100% sure they're normal part of the 777 nav lights.

The PDF below illustrates what lights are required to be visible. Normally the Nav lights are on whenever the aircraft is powered. These are the steady red green and white lights. The red beacon is switched on whenever the aircraft is moving on the ground and left on from pushback to arrival. The white wing and tail strobes are switched on whenever taxiing on a runway and while inflight.

There are other lights such as landing lights, wing lights and logo lights used on various combinations as well.

http://www.whelen.com/pb/Aviation/Syste ... ystems.pdf

What? I think it would be quicker to list airliners that don't have tail lights. All airbus aircraft have a nav light in the tail. I think the 737 is just a strobe on the tail, and the nav lights on the trailing edge of the wings.

But, yes! Planes have tail lights!

Can't say I've seen an Airbus A-300F with a tailight. Perhaps, just the newer models?

All aircraft have a white light pointing rearward, either on the tail or on the wingtips. Same with boats, where quite a few aviation regulations and traditions are based on.

CWizard wrote:

Can't say I've seen an Airbus A-300F with a taillight.

But if no centerline tail-light, and no rear-facing lights at the ends of the tailplane like a 747, then it has to have rear-facing white lights on the wings?

timz wrote:

CWizard wrote:

Can't say I've seen an Airbus A-300F with a taillight.

But if no centerline tail-light, and no rear-facing lights at the ends of the tailplane like a 747, then it has to have rear-facing white lights on the wings?

AFAIK the regulators don't care as long a steady white light is visible in an arc 60 degrees each side of straight back for a total of 120 degrees arc. Whether that means wing lights or tail light is presumably up to the manufacturer.

^I think you're right, given the many configurations. I personally like the three-bulb 777/787/748 one the best, it tells you how far away the plane is and what its pitch angle is relative to your line of sight to it. Single-bulbs like on most Airbii are useless for ranging.

Starlionblue wrote:

AFAIK the regulators don't care as long a steady white light is visible in an arc 60 degrees each side of straight back for a total of 120 degrees arc.

It is 70 degrees either side with a total arc of 140 degrees for the Nav white light.

StereoTechque wrote:

Starlionblue wrote:

AFAIK the regulators don't care as long a steady white light is visible in an arc 60 degrees each side of straight back for a total of 120 degrees arc.

It is 70 degrees either side with a total arc of 140 degrees for the Nav white light.

You are entirely correct!

LH707330 wrote:

^I think you're right, given the many configurations. I personally like the three-bulb 777/787/748 one the best, it tells you how far away the plane is and what its pitch angle is relative to your line of sight to it. Single-bulbs like on most Airbii are useless for ranging.

Look at your ND / TCAS screen, much better for ranging .

LH707330 wrote:

^I think you're right, given the many configurations. I personally like the three-bulb 777/787/748 one the best, it tells you how far away the plane is and what its pitch angle is relative to your line of sight to it. Single-bulbs like on most Airbii are useless for ranging.

Scary. Use your TCAS or ask ATC.

Why not brake lights? Would be useful in the Conga line at JFK et al.....

timz wrote:

CWizard wrote:

Can't say I've seen an Airbus A-300F with a taillight.

But if no centerline tail-light, and no rear-facing lights at the ends of the tailplane like a 747, then it has to have rear-facing white lights on the wings?

Yes, the A-300F has a white light just inboard of those delta shaped winglets.

@shamrock137,
Thanks for the .pdf file. Greatly appreciated.

Natflyer wrote:

LH707330 wrote:

^I think you're right, given the many configurations. I personally like the three-bulb 777/787/748 one the best, it tells you how far away the plane is and what its pitch angle is relative to your line of sight to it. Single-bulbs like on most Airbii are useless for ranging.

Scary. Use your TCAS or ask ATC.

Why not brake lights? Would be useful in the Conga line at JFK et al.....

The use case is looking at them from the backyard when grilling.