At the decision altitude (DA), if you see flashing lights approaching toward you, what are they called and how far can you continue to descend?

• A. Rabbit lights; you may continue to descend until 100 feet above the touch down zone elevation
• B. Strobe lights; you must halt descent immediately
• C. Beacon lights; you may continue to descend to touchdown
• D. Sequenced flashing lights; you must level off at DA

Answer: (A)

At DA, you rely on the visual cues from the approach lighting system to decide if you can continue the approach. The flashing lights that move toward you along the approach path are called rabbit lights. They give a clear progression cue: if you see these lights approaching and you have the required runway environment in sight, you may descend from DA down to 100 feet above the touchdown zone elevation. This visual segment lets you continue toward the runway, but you must be able to see the runway environment to continue beyond that point. If the runway environment isn’t in sight by then, you should execute a missed approach. The term rabbit lights refers specifically to that moving sequence of lights, not to strobe or beacon lights, which serve different purposes.