An apparatus and a method of determining a state of an actuator (300) in an airplane (100). The apparatus includes a mirror (514) coupled to the actuator, wherein a location of the mirror is dependent on the state of the actuator, a shaft (314) for moving the mirror upon a change in the state of the actuator, and a processor. Incident light (520) is reflected off of the mirror to create a reflected light (522). The processor receives the reflected light from the mirror, detects a change in a parameter of the reflected light generated by moving of the mirror, and determines the state of the actuator based on the change in the parameter.