What do I need to fly at night?

Know whether your aircraft is legally equipped for the night flight you are about to make, and what to check before you launch.

• You know which certificate you hold and which operation you are conducting — VLOS or BVLOS. CAR 901.39
• You know the difference between night and civil twilight as it applies to your operation.

CAR 901.39 requires the aircraft to be equipped with lights sufficient to make it visible to the pilot or a visual observer — with or without night-vision goggles — and those lights must be turned on. CAR 901.39

Three parts, all required:

1. the aircraft has lights;
2. the lights are sufficient to make it visible to the pilot or a visual observer;
3. the lights are switched on.

Having lights fitted but off fails the rule as squarely as having none.

The AIM states the permission rather than the prohibition, and it names both environments together: night operations are permitted in both the basic and the advanced operating environments, provided the RPA is equipped with position lights sufficient to allow the aircraft to be visible to the pilot and any visual observer. AIM 3.2.27

It also defines the term, which is worth having exactly: night is the period that starts at the end of evening civil twilight and ends at the start of morning civil twilight. Evening civil twilight ends when the centre of the sun's disc is 6° below the horizon and descending, roughly 25 to 35 minutes after sunset; morning civil twilight begins when the disc is 6° below the horizon and ascending, roughly the same interval before sunrise. The direction is part of the definition, and a question can ask for it. AIM 3.2.27

And it names the risk the rule is really about. From the pilot's perspective the greatest concern is maintaining VLOS with the aircraft and detecting and avoiding unlit objects on or near the ground — trees and power lines. Because those are exactly what a daytime look would have found, the AIM advises a day site survey to establish separation between the flight path and the dangers that will not be visible at night. AIM 3.2.27

The goggles must be capable of detecting all light within the visual spectrum, or you must have another means of doing so. CAR 901.39

Goggles that filter out part of the spectrum can hide exactly the light you fitted in step 1 to be seen.

The AIM makes the same point in the direction that catches people. Night vision goggles can supplement the crew's view of the aircraft, but caution should be exercised, because night vision may inhibit the pilot's ability to detect and avoid other aircraft. A tool that improves one task can degrade the other, and the AIM treats the degradation as the thing to watch. AIM 3.2.27

The mechanism is the one this step is about: many aircraft are equipped with LEDs instead of traditional incandescent lights, and LED light may fall outside the combined visible and near-infrared spectrum of night vision goggles — visible to the eye, invisible through the goggles. AIM 3.2.27

One more caution sits beside it: not all aircraft are required to have lights at night. Some operators — law enforcement, military and first responders — have mission requirements that necessitate operating without them, so a crew should be particularly alert for an aircraft that may only be identifiable by sound. AIM 3.2.27

Every fact in this step comes from the AIM's night chapter, and all three are about the crew rather than about the aircraft. AIM 3.2.27

Range is the illusion. Aircraft are easier to identify at night, but it is more difficult to determine their range — so the RPA could be within VLOS but much farther away than it would be by day, and a traditional aircraft that is easy to spot may be at a greater distance and appear much closer than it actually is. Depth perception is what degrades. AIM 3.2.27

Sound is a sensor. In some cases sound may be the only way to detect other aircraft at night, which is why the crew should enforce a sterile environment around the control station and anywhere visual observers are stationed, avoiding unnecessary talking or noise. Sound also monitors your own aircraft when visual cues are limited — rapidly changing motor sounds on a multirotor can indicate wind at altitude. AIM 3.2.27

The lights say which way it is travelling. A traditional aircraft carries a red light on the port (left) side, a green light on the starboard (right) side and a white light on the tail, and the combination an observer can see gives the direction of travel: green and red together mean the aircraft is coming at them, while a red and white light means it is crossing right to left and moving away. AIM 3.2.27

This is a separate and stricter requirement, and it is easy to miss because it is a subsection-numbered section sitting between 901.38 and 901.39.

A BVLOS operation requires anti-collision lights, turned on, meeting a specification rather than merely being adequate: CAR 901.38.1 AIM 3.4.2

Requirement	Value
Colour	White CAR 901.38.1
At night	Visible using night-vision goggles CAR 901.38.1
Flash rate	Not less than 40 and not more than 100 cycles per minute CAR 901.38.1
Coverage	Visible within 75 degrees above and below the horizontal plane, except obstructed solid angles totalling at most 0.5 steradians CAR 901.38.1
Intensity	Visible in all directions from not less than one mile CAR 901.38.1

Anti-collision lights may be turned off if the pilot determines that, because of operating conditions, doing so would be in the interests of aviation safety. CAR 901.38.1

That is a pilot determination about safety — not a function of airspace class, and it needs no authorization.

You launch only when all of the following are true:

• The aircraft has lights, they are sufficient to be seen, and they are on
• If using NVGs, they detect all light in the visual spectrum (or you have another means)
• If flying BVLOS, the anti-collision lights meet the specification in step 4
• The crew is keeping a sterile environment, and range is treated as unreliable at night AIM 3.2.27
• You have decided whether the safety discretion in step 5 applies

Warning Do not confuse the two lighting provisions. CAR 901.39 applies to night operations generally and asks for lights sufficient to be visible to the pilot or a visual observer. CAR 901.38.1 applies to BVLOS operations and imposes a specification — colour, flash rate, coverage, intensity. A light that satisfies 901.39 need not satisfy 901.38.1.

Note This requirement is new. CAR 901.38.1 came into force on 2025-11-04 under SOR/2025-70, one of that instrument's two phase-in dates. Material written before that date — including some study guides still in circulation — will not mention it.

Symptom	Likely cause	What to do
Lights are fitted but the flight still feels non-compliant	They are switched off — 901.39 requires them on	Turn them on before launch CAR 901.39
NVGs fitted, but the aircraft is hard to see	The goggles filter part of the visual spectrum	Confirm they detect all light in the spectrum, or use another means CAR 901.39
BVLOS flight, lights are white and on, but you are unsure	Colour alone is not the whole specification	Check flash rate, coverage and intensity against step 4 CAR 901.38.1
An aircraft's lights look close	Range perception is harder at night, so it may be much farther away	Treat the sighting as further away than it looks AIM 3.2.27
The crew is talking at the control station	Sound may be the only way to detect traffic at night	Keep a sterile environment around the station AIM 3.2.27
You can see both a green light and a red light	That combination means the aircraft is coming at you	Give way and re-check your separation AIM 3.2.27
You cannot find the night rule for your certificate level	901.39 speaks to equipment, not certificate class	See the note below — do not assume

Warning Whether a Basic certificate permits night operations is not settled by CAR 901.39, which speaks only to equipment. This lesson states what the regulation says about equipment and stops there. If you are relying on this for an operational decision, confirm it with Transport Canada rather than with any study aid — including this one.

A study aid that guesses here could lead a certificate holder to fly unlawfully, which is a worse outcome than an incomplete lesson.

Practise: Night flight lighting requirement

Practise: Anti-collision lights for BVLOS

Practise: Night detection

Practise: Night aircraft lights

Practise: Night definition

• AIM RPA 3.2.27 — Night Flight

• CAR 901.39 — Night Flight Requirements

• CAR 901.38.1 — Anti-collision Lights (in force 2025-11-04)

• Consolidation: CARs current to 2026-09-21