flare path

8.3

A line of lights showing the edge of a runway to guide pilots at night or in fog

noun
/flɛr pæθ/

Specialized

: camino de luces

The pilot searched for the flare path to align his final approach in the heavy fog.

Examples

Engineers carefully inspected each light along the flare path before the night’s first flight.
The flare path was clearly visible from the control tower.
During the blackout, the flare path was lit only moments before the plane landed.
Pilots rely on the flare path during night landings.
The pilots relied on the flare path to safely land the plane during the stormy night.
As the plane approached the airport, the flare path illuminated the runway, guiding it to a smooth landing.
In low visibility, the flare path was essential for ensuring the aircraft could take off without incident.

Surface Forms

flare path singular

flare paths plural

Morphology

flare + path

The phrase denotes literally a path made of flares: combining 'flare' (an illuminating/signalling device) with 'path' (a track) yields the idea of a line of flares marking a route. This is a straightforward noun–noun composition and follows common cross-linguistic patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the meaning.

Etymology

Flare path may come from old airfields where people lit burning flares along a path on the ground so pilots could see where to land. That's why it now means 'a line of lights that guides pilots to land or take off'.