Medium Transport; Low Wing; 2 Turbojet Eng
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Situational Awareness; Distraction
Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
Airport; Equipment / Tooling
It was night; overcast at 300 feet; with winds from the northeast. ATC advised us to expect the ILS 35R in OKC. I was pilot flying and when I briefed the threats; I mentioned that one of the OKC runways has LED runway lights that are pretty bright and make it hard to actually see the pavement. The approach was stable by the FAF and we broke out as expected at about 300 feet. The runway lights must have been turned all the way up on high because of the weather conditions; and 35R was indeed the runway with LEDs; edge lights; centerline; and touchdown zone. It was so bright that I literally could not see the pavement when landing. The landing was not hard but it was flat as the result of a later than normal roundout; and I was flaring almost entirely off the callouts of the radar altimeter. The captain agreed with me after the fact and stated that it was like landing in a black hole with absolutely no depth perception. (I should say that I believe the lights are LED. In any case they seem to be a lot brighter than normal runway lights.)The cause of the event was simply being in a [Medium transport; low wing; 2 turbojet engines aircraft] where the cockpit is lower to the ground; with blindingly bright runway lights in our faces. Our landing lights did nothing illuminate the pavement in front of us; as it was completely washed out by the runway lights until we were 5-10 feet off the ground. I didn't see any notes on the 10-9 Jeppesen airport chart stating whether the runway had LED lights; although I'll check again later today. Now that I know which of the runways has those lights; I'll remember to ask the tower to turn the lights on medium or low next time. I can understand having super bright approach lights; but overly bright centerline and touchdown zone lights can make for an unsafe situation. As pilots we use the radar altimeter as a tool for aiding in the timing of the roundout; but I think we all still need some depth perception especially for the touchdown.
Pilot while landing in OKC; complains about the lighting system being too bright and thinks they may be LED lights.