Question about runway lights

[time2fly]

Hi. First of all, thanks for such a great site. Very helpful and informative. I was wondering if you could tell me what the big white flashing-light X means at the beginning of a runway. recently i dropped someone off at LAS during a particularly bad thunderstorm. The winds were quite bad. Anyhow, planes were landing on the runway that comes in over Tropicana Avenue. I was watching one plane land over me as i was on tropicana and i noticed the big white X was flashing. At the last moment the pilot pulled up and did not land. did the flashing X tell him to do that, or is that X always flashing? What is it indicating? I just never noticed the X there before. Thanks for you help.

[tb_neg]

Wow, I don't know, I've never seen a flashing X on a runway. I'll look and see if I can find the answer, although your guess seems plausible.

[time2fly]

Thanks so much. I sure felt for the pilots trying to land in that kind of weather.

[time2fly]

this is the X I was talking about. looks like it signifies closure of a runway, which explains why the plane pulled up at the last minute:

http://news.yahoo.com/photo/060904/480/cca11117dc5544378a6c04647c76b907&g=events/us/082706comaircrash

[tb_neg]

Thanks for sharing the picture. I'm not sure what the case was in LAS, but your theory seems reasonable.


this is the X I was talking about. looks like it signifies closure of a runway, which explains why the plane pulled up at the last minute:

http://news.yahoo.com/photo/060904/480/cca11117dc5544378a6c04647c76b907&g=events/us/082706comaircrash