Report says Levi's Stadium lights causing problems for pilots flying over

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Levi's Stadium is a beautiful new building in Santa Clara, Calif., but pilots who have to fly over it aren't quite as excited about the San Francisco 49ers' new home.

According to an investigative report by NBC's Bay Area affiliate, the flight path of runway 30-L at San Jose Mineta International Airport is right over Levi's Stadium and the lights have caused at least six complaints by pilots who reported problems when they flew over. NBC Bay Area reported that NASA has sent two safety alert bulletins to the FAA, San Jose Mineta International Airport and Santa Clara’s Stadium Authority about the issue. Levi's Stadium opened in 2014.

Commercial pilot Christina Kurowicki's story of trying to land was highlighted by the NBC Bay Area story. She said about the stadium lights in her report with the FAA, “It was blinding. It was blinding. Incapacitating for sure.”

“Created a blind spot in my field of vision – had to rely on instruments until about 100 feet [above ground level] because of the distraction,” Kurowicki wrote in the report, according to NBC Bay Area.
The "extremely bright stadium board display lights" were cited in another report to NASA. Another frightening report cited in the NBC Bay Area report said a sign on top of the stadium could be mistaken for a runway in extremely bad weather.

“This sign could be very easily mistaken for the PAPI for runway 12R under poor visibility conditions,” wrote the pilot, via NBC Bay Area, “leading an unsuspecting crew to mistakenly correct to the left while descending and subsequently put them on a collision course with the stadium itself.”

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