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From: jdb@mordor.UUCP (John Bruner)
Newsgroups: net.aviation
Subject: Re: Airliner cabin lights query
Message-ID: <4766@mordor.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 18-Dec-85 11:12:27 EST
Article-I.D.: mordor.4766
Posted: Wed Dec 18 11:12:27 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 20-Dec-85 02:57:32 EST
References: <17661@styx.UUCP>
Reply-To: jdb@mordor.UUCP (John Bruner)
Distribution: net
Organization: S-1 Project, LLNL
Lines: 13

A few months ago, I overhead a nearby passenger ask a flight attendant
why the lights were dimmed at night.  The answer was twofold.  The
dimmer lighting makes it easier for passengers to sleep (other
passengers can always use their reading lamps).  Also, in the event
of a survivable crash landing (e.g. ditching, skidding off an icy
runway), the passengers are not night-blind.  Electrical power is
lost when the engines stop (presumably no APU is running), and the
transition from a brightly-lighted cabin to (near) darkness might be
fatal to many passengers who otherwise would have survived.
-- 
  John Bruner (S-1 Project, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)
  MILNET: jdb@mordor [jdb@s1-c.ARPA]	(415) 422-0758
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