What is the altitude when a plane is nothing but a small light in the sky?

Question

What is the approximate altitude when a commercial jet is seen as a tiny light in the night sky, one that could easily be mistaken for a star?

Just wondering.....

Answer 1

Between 30 to 36 thousand feet, assuming you're talking about a large size commercial plane.

Answer 2

well, usuallly you can spot their red and green (blue) lights, otherwise its proooobably a satellite.   or a ufo, oooh! creepy... :)  

but i dunno, 35000 ft?  cruising altitude?  I live in an area that has a high altitude airway running overhead, and I can still see the blinking lights, barely... so idunno.

Answer 3

Cruising altitude for all commercial planes is 36,000ft, however planes can range from 30-42k ft to cruise.

Answer 4

Just guessing here from things I have heard on movies. Cruising altitude is 40,000 feet.

Answer 5

Typical cruising altitude for those aircraft is 28 - 40 thousand feet. Other factors may be involved for optimum sighting:

direction of flight, air pollution, brightness of the light, trajectory (if above you, it could be higher due to less pollution or air scattering effects).

Answer 6

I'd say around 20,000 ft, give or take

Answer 7

If you're looking at a jet cruising somewhere in the 30-40 thousand foot altitude range, you will still see some motion of the light. You should also be able to see the navigation lights blinking. I doubt that you would mistake it for a star if you watched it for a minute or so. Satellites, which have no blinking lights, will ove across the sky in less than 4 minutes.

I live near a large metropolitan jet airport. At night, I have observed lights from aircraft approaching or departing this airport that almost appear motionless. That's because they are travelling slower at lower altitudes during these flight phases. Also, the runway most used is almost in my line of sight, so the aparent motion is quite small unless I watch over a period of several minutes.

The lights I see are not the normal navigation lights, but the landing lights (much brighter) that jets usually use below 18,000 feet. Most carriers adopted this practice as a way of being seen by other aircraft. You can see those landing lights for many miles, even in daylight.

Answer 8

36,000 feet

Answer 9

I'd say 36,000 ft +

Answer 10

There is usually only the Navigation beacon lights when they are cruising (from 20,000 to 35,000 ft.)

When they are landing, and their landing lights are on, which is probably the most likely to be mistaken for a star, they are below 10,000 feet.

Answer 11

probably 39-42,000 feet - pretty high

Answer 12

Most commercial airlines are in the range of 35,000 to 40,000 feet at their cruising altitude.