Definition
The lights mounted on the outside of an airplane that make it visible to other pilots, ground personnel, and air traffic controllers, and that help the pilot see during taxi, takeoff, landing, and night operations. Common exterior lights include position (navigation) lights, anti-collision lights (beacon and strobes), landing lights, taxi lights, wing/ice inspection lights, and the logo light.
Plain English
The lights on the outside of the airplane. Some help others see you; others help you see where you're going.
Context Anchor
You encounter this term during preflight checks, night flying preparation, taxi, takeoff, landing, and safety discussions about making the aircraft easier to see.
Derivation
Exterior comes from a Latin word meaning outer or on the outside. That helps here because these are the lights on the outside of the aircraft, not cockpit or cabin lights inside it.
Why Pilots Care
Using exterior lights correctly reduces the chance of mid-air collisions and supports safe operations in low light or on busy airports.
Intuition Check
Do not read exterior lights as decorative lights or every light visible from outside. In this context, it means the aircraft’s installed outside lights used for visibility, signaling, and seeing the surface.
Example Sentence 1
Before taxiing at night, the pilot turned on the exterior lights, including the beacon, navigation lights, and taxi light.
Example Sentence 2
During taxi the instructor reminded the student to use the taxi light, one of the exterior lights, to see the centerline markings.