Who is responsible for shutting down aircraft?

Question

I know this seems like a strange question. Last week I came in on a red-eye flight which landed at 11:45pm. I don't think the aircraft was going anywhere which means that it would be shutting down for the night.

I thought the pilot and/or the flight crew did this, however while waiting in line for my luggage i saw the Captain, First Officer and the Flight Attendants leaving the airport. And upon leaving the airport I saw my aircraft with the lights still on etc.

My question is whose duty is it to turn off the aircraft lights and shut it down after it has completed it's flights for the day?

Answer 1

the control tower is responsible of all the aircraft

Answer 2

The flight crew will shut the engines down and leave everything turned off (except maybe some lights and cooling blowers) before leaving the flight deck.  They will coordinate with the company dispatcher as to the status of the airplane and what will be done with it next.

If another aircrew is taking over, they will begin preflighting the airplane about an hour before they fly.  Actually, 11:45 PM is not very late in airline terms, and the airplane could very easily be headed out again that night.  If not, the dispatcher will send someone to shut the electrical equipment down after the cleaning crew have finished.

The lights and blowers were probably running on ground power so that the cleaning crew could work.  If the airplane is left parked on a crowded ramp, the flight crew may leave position lights, banner lights, and rotating beacons turned on just to make sure everybody sees it.

Answer 3

I'll give you an example: Let us say the plane is from Singapore an SQ flight it landed back at Singapore 2345H as you say, to answer your question the assigned night duty engineer will see to it  that aircraft is being cleaned, catering debris removed, and toilet waste drained and service. All this things done in haste because they must vacate the bridge for other landings. The aircraft is then towed to the SQ hangar and a lay-over check usually service 2 is done until then the engineer or his assigned mechanic can only be the one to turn-off the APU and close the doors and aircraft is ready for the next day flight.

Answer 4

A lot happens after everyone leaves the aircraft.  A crew comes in and cleans, takes out the garbage, straightens out the magazines and safety cards in those little pouches inspects the cabin for anything left behind and so forth.  I stayed on board once on a layover and watched them go through this process.  Another crews comes on board later to replenish the drinks and food for the next flight.

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I doubt very seriously that the lights and everything are ever turned off.  Modern airliners are not idle for very long and are rarely parked for the night.  While it's parked at the gate and being serviced it would be not on it's own power but connected to the airports power system.

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Answer 5

the aircraft has a auxilery jet engine that is left on to charge the batteries and keep the airconditioner on or the heat on.. and to make shure the batteries allways have a full charge ok..

Answer 6

Usually after a plane is done for the night, all the engines, APU, and essential things will be shut off by the flight crew.  However, the aircraft is plugged in to an external source of AC power that allows the lights to stay on.  This is done so the cleaning crew can get on board and see what they are doing.

After they are done, they simply turn off the lights and unplug it.

Answer 7

All large commercial aircraft are inspected by several different people after any flight... so it is not unusual for the lights to be on... they need to be inspected too... The pilots of most large commercial flights do a walkaround, or both piolot and co-pilot.... as well as other mechanical and safety people...also cleaning crews and people sevicing the movies and other entertainment systems... it is a long and complcated system... the pilot can not do it all