Definition
An exterior aircraft light, required to be displayed during night operations, used to indicate the aircraft's position and direction of travel to other pilots. Standard position lights consist of a red light on the left wingtip, a green light on the right wingtip, and a white light on the tail.
Plain English
The colored lights on the wingtips and tail of an aircraft that show other pilots where it is and which way it is pointing at night.
Context Anchor
Seen during preflight checks, night operations, and any discussion of aircraft exterior lighting.
Derivation
From Latin 'positio' meaning placement or location. The lights are called position lights because their colors and arrangement let another pilot determine the position and heading of an aircraft they cannot otherwise see clearly in the dark.
Why Pilots Care
They allow pilots to determine another aircraft's relative position and direction of travel at night, reducing the risk of collision.
Intuition Check
A position light is not a landing light and it does not light up the runway for the pilot. It is mainly a visibility light so other people can see the aircraft’s position and direction.
Example Sentence 1
The instructor reminded the student to switch on the position lights before taxiing for the night flight.
Example Sentence 2
Seeing the green position light on the oncoming aircraft told the pilot it was passing safely to the right.