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Tonight's fireworks got me wondering: With all of the firework displays happening at the same time, how do they keep aircraft away from them? Is there any risk of collision or blinding the pilots? Is there anything that pilots need to do differently when fireworks are in the area?

Lnafziger
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  • A brief Google search suggests that commercial fireworks may peak on altitude at about 1000'. This is hardly a scientific response of course (hence a comment rather than answer), but it would seem the risk of collision is low against a safely operating pilot that takes this into account for altitude selecion. I don't know what distance makes blinding a factor, but I suspect night vision loss is a real risk. – mah Jan 01 '14 at 12:42
  • @mah Aircraft are still below 1000' for takeoff and landing, and on major holidays in very populated areas, fireworks are everywhere! – Lnafziger Jan 01 '14 at 13:11
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    I haven't seen many commercial fireworks displays off the departure end of an active runway. – Dan Pichelman Jan 01 '14 at 16:01
  • @DanPichelman Haha, there are a lot of smaller airports and the airplanes there are typically flying a lot lower in the traffic pattern. While I'm sure that the big firework displays aren't being launched from the middle of the runway, are they close enough to create a problem for a pilot? – Lnafziger Jan 01 '14 at 16:45
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    @DanPichelman I saw a bunch of them last night well inside the Class D ring of my home field - Somehow I doubt anyone notified the tower they were putting on a display (but hey they close the tower at 11 - maybe they called & nobody answered? :) – voretaq7 Jan 01 '14 at 17:54
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    Since this question is not country specific, I would like to mention that fireworks of pretty much any kind can be used at any time in India legally. The only laws that restrict fireworks apply to decibel levels of said fireworks. – asheeshr Jan 02 '14 at 01:01
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    In some countries it's illegal to launch fireworks in the vicinity of airports. I always thought this was the case in the US as well, perhaps I'm mistaken. – falstro Jan 02 '14 at 18:20
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    @roe I'm sure that it is, but that doesn't always so people! – Lnafziger Jan 02 '14 at 18:25
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    I would venture that not many people are firing off commercial-grade fireworks. And those that are have already run through the restrictions of firing them around aircraft operations. Any consumer-grade fireworks aren't very likely able to reach any safe-flying aircraft. And if someone were intentionally launching them off near an approach or departure end of a runway (despite the quick potential for a visit from the authorities), I'd guess they'd be pretty unlikely to be large enough to seriously harm an aircraft. – Shawn Jan 09 '14 at 15:40
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    @falstro - It's not illegal to shoot off fireworks from an airport. It's illegal to do so without anyone at the airport knowing what you're doing. There's an annual air show and fireworks display at Addison Airport; the fireworks simply occur after all the aircraft are on the ground, and there's a TFR for non-participating aircraft most of the day anyway. – KeithS Jul 07 '15 at 21:26
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    @Shawn - I think I have to disagree; roadside fireworks stands have some pretty big boomers behind the counter if you have the cash. Still smaller than professional-grade, but I still think the consumer-grade ones could punch a fist-sized hole in a small craft's wing, if you were unlucky enough to get a direct hit from some yahoo with more money than sense launching them along the traffic pattern of your home strip. – KeithS Jul 07 '15 at 21:29
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    @KeithS - I still say it would be a serious idiot shooting off fireworks like that at any aircraft low enough to be hit, and unless they were right off the end of the runway (again, insuring a pretty quick visit by authorities), they'd not be likely to hit an aircraft. Even commercial grade fireworks don't fly much more than a few hundred feet off the ground. Maybe 1K ft for the really big ones. But even though an aircraft skin is likely aluminum, I doubt very many fireworks would hit hard enough to punch through. At the worst, it would be very distracting to the pilot on takeoff or landing. – Shawn Jul 08 '15 at 18:47
  • @KeithS - That said, I've actually been shot at with a rifle while doing simulated engine failures in training. A couple of times. A bullet round will most definitely punch a hole in your airplane. And, unless it hits the cockpit area, you likely won't even notice until you land and see the hole. :-/ And yes, those occasions did result in reports to the authorities about the farmers that shot at me. – Shawn Jul 08 '15 at 18:50

3 Answers3

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In and I assume in a similar way in the United States, fireworks are treated like any other obstacle such as a communication tower, building, or crane. The location and elevation of the firework activity is assessed for impacts to any instrument procedures, airways, minimum altitude areas, etc. and NOTAM to temporarily amend affected procedures will be issued prior to the activity to advertise the changes and their effective periods.

Having said that, this doesn't address the VFR side of things. Operating near fireworks is essentially the same see and be seen idea. NOTAM get issued here all the time for the fireworks activity themselves and they would include a radius from the centre point. Simply avoiding the area is usually sufficient.

chatty
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    This is what usually happens in the US as well - but an important caveat is that it generally only happens for organized displays. When somebody decides to launch some bottle rockets from their back yard there is usually no notice (especially if there's no permit & the display is technically illegal) - it's basically "big sky theory" & the generally low likelihood of a plane and a mortar shell being in the same place at the same time... – voretaq7 Jan 01 '14 at 17:51
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In addition to the previous answer, there are often TFRs (Temporary Flight Restrictions) around the areas of organized fireworks displays- before you fly you're responsible for knowing where these locations are and not flying into that airspace.

As far as avoiding the stray bottle rocket, hopefully you're high enough in cruise and lucky enough in takeoff/landing to avoid these hazards.

As far as blinding, the fireworks can take away your night vision if you're close enough but I don't think it would blind. At least it has never happened to me.

tmptplayer
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Most firework displays peak at about 200 feet above the launching site. Any aircraft low enough to tangle with fireworks is too low anyway.

Pilots see fireworks as little flowers on the ground. They are not big or impressive from the air.

Also, the individual stars, and even the shells, do not weigh much. Unless a firework went into a jet engine, it could not damage an aircraft.

midimagic
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    Welcome to Aviation.SE. Aircrafts are easily below 200 feet for takeoff and landing, this might suggest that special regulations exists for fireworks near airfields. For your last assertion, do you have any data or source? – Federico Jul 04 '15 at 10:01