Anonymous wrote:Im aware this is a forum for people who live in dc
but I'm in Wichita

We don't need a direct flight to dc daily, our congress people just wanted it for convenience

I live in DC and am not a member of Congress but I prefer a direct flight to Kansas. Let’s not make quick judgements to halt direct flights, please. There are people in DC other than politicians who want this!

Does anyone have any experience with how this type of wreckage impacts use of the river in the near future? Thank god the river was mostly frozen and not being used by recreational boaters.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The contributing factors to this crash will never be fully addressed. The fundamental problem is the orientation of Runway 33 vis-a-vis military traffic on the east side of the Potomac. It’s past time that Runway 33 is closed. If that means DCA has to shed a few slots so be it. Plenty of capacity at IAD.

That was also the opinion of a guest (aviation expert?) on nbc4 this morning. Planes have to swing out to the east side of the river to land on that runway, which brings them into the same space as the helicopters that fly low and the helicopters have to maintain visual distance. Too much can go wrong.

So “shed” the helicopters. The airplane did nothing wrong.

+1

I think the issue is that is the area by a base. I could be wrong, but I think that’s what he said.

Anonymous wrote:Soooo … maybe it was a bad idea to dismantle and gut leadership from agencies charged with overseeing safety of air travel and airports.

This. For the love of God people when you go on about feds, so many of them have jobs to ensure people don't die needlessly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fundamental problem is that the approach from upriver violates every FAA best practice for safety in order to follow the sharp curve of the river around Georgetown Landing, in order to reduce noise over residential areas and avoid protected airspace (VP mansion etc.). This removes the safety that comes from having a long-straight approach to the runway, which gives the landing pilots plenty of chance to see anything flying near them and gives helicopters relief from having a plane come whipping around the corner.

The sick irony is this all happens within site of FAA HQ.

That wasn't the approach the plane used here. It came from the south.

So is the southern approach long-straight, or does it also involve dangerous/late turns? And if so, why does it need these dangerous turns?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The contributing factors to this crash will never be fully addressed. The fundamental problem is the orientation of Runway 33 vis-a-vis military traffic on the east side of the Potomac. It’s past time that Runway 33 is closed. If that means DCA has to shed a few slots so be it. Plenty of capacity at IAD.

That was also the opinion of a guest (aviation expert?) on nbc4 this morning. Planes have to swing out to the east side of the river to land on that runway, which brings them into the same space as the helicopters that fly low and the helicopters have to maintain visual distance. Too much can go wrong.

So “shed” the helicopters. The airplane did nothing wrong.

+1

Anonymous wrote:The fundamental problem is that the approach from upriver violates every FAA best practice for safety in order to follow the sharp curve of the river around Georgetown Landing, in order to reduce noise over residential areas and avoid protected airspace (VP mansion etc.). This removes the safety that comes from having a long-straight approach to the runway, which gives the landing pilots plenty of chance to see anything flying near them and gives helicopters relief from having a plane come whipping around the corner.

The sick irony is this all happens within site of FAA HQ.

That wasn't the approach the plane used here. It came from the south.

Soooo … maybe it was a bad idea to dismantle and gut leadership from agencies charged with overseeing safety of air travel and airports.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The contributing factors to this crash will never be fully addressed. The fundamental problem is the orientation of Runway 33 vis-a-vis military traffic on the east side of the Potomac. It’s past time that Runway 33 is closed. If that means DCA has to shed a few slots so be it. Plenty of capacity at IAD.

That was also the opinion of a guest (aviation expert?) on nbc4 this morning. Planes have to swing out to the east side of the river to land on that runway, which brings them into the same space as the helicopters that fly low and the helicopters have to maintain visual distance. Too much can go wrong.

So “shed” the helicopters. The airplane did nothing wrong.

Anonymous wrote:The contributing factors to this crash will never be fully addressed. The fundamental problem is the orientation of Runway 33 vis-a-vis military traffic on the east side of the Potomac. It’s past time that Runway 33 is closed. If that means DCA has to shed a few slots so be it. Plenty of capacity at IAD.

That was also the opinion of a guest (aviation expert?) on nbc4 this morning. Planes have to swing out to the east side of the river to land on that runway, which brings them into the same space as the helicopters that fly low and the helicopters have to maintain visual distance. Too much can go wrong.

The fundamental problem is that the approach from upriver violates every FAA best practice for safety in order to follow the sharp curve of the river around Georgetown Landing, in order to reduce noise over residential areas and avoid protected airspace (VP mansion etc.). This removes the safety that comes from having a long-straight approach to the runway, which gives the landing pilots plenty of chance to see anything flying near them and gives helicopters relief from having a plane come whipping around the corner.

The sick irony is this all happens within site of FAA HQ.

DCA is fine. A lot of you don’t seem to understand that IAD does not even offer many of the routes DCA offers. I live closer to IAD but fly DCA most often due to the routes. I’m not “choosing” DCA. The routes choose for me. If you aren’t flying international or to the west coast you are more likely booking DCA.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are we still thinking DCA will be ready to go at 11:00am. Am supposed to be flying in to DCA today… Thank you.

No it’s closed until 5am Friday

Thank you.

If this changes, can people please post.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh no. I wonder if it’s one of those control tower snafus that didn’t get caught in time.

Air traffic controllers were too distracted

or too short staffed and over worked.

But we want to fire more Feds. We want to bash them and threaten them daily.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reportedly there were a number of young (teenage) figure skaters and their parents on board coming back from a developmental camp in KS. Utterly tragic.

All due to selfish positions wanting less travel time
they need to shut that airport down. or lessen the flights
Why the hell are you doing night training missions in a super busy airport at night too? Why not somewhere else?

politicians *

+1 so tired of this. I blame members of Congress on both sides of the aisle who insisted on increasing flights and adding longer haul flights at National over strenuous and well-founded objections. Just one example: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4628813-faa-bill-adds-5-long-distance-flights-to-reagan-national-airport/amp/

Wish these windbags would focus their energy on something more productive.

National is the closest airport to me but I’ve been using Dulles for the last few years. Longer runways and not next to a big river.

Yep! Fkg self—centered, selfish politicians.

The fatal midair collision is reviving questions about the addition of more longer-distance flights in and out of DC’s Reagan National airport — a feature that drew sharp opposition during deliberations in May from some Senate Democrats representing the Washington, DC, area.

[/b]The senators had warned that increasing the number of long-distance flights could heighten safety and congestion risks, concerns now underscored as Wednesday night’s deadly collision near the airport has intensified scrutiny of operations in the crowded airspace.

The additional flights were included in the sweeping aviation bill approved in May by Congress and signed by then-President Joe Biden. The bill was designed to bolster safety measures, strengthen protections for passengers and airline employees and fund upgrades to US airports and air travel infrastructure; it allocates over $105 billion to the Federal Aviation Administration and $738 million to the National Transportation Safety Board for fiscal years 2024 through 2028.

“The proposal (of additional flights) flies in the face of known safety concerns and known congestion concerns,” US Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland had argued before the bill passed.

Reagan National is “pressed to the gills,” handling 25 million passengers annually when it should accommodate just 15 million a year, US Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia had argued on the Senate floor.[b]

The push to add five daily round-trip flights beyond the 1,250-mile perimeter limit was driven by “convenience” for lawmakers flying in and out of Reagan National, Van Hollen had said. The airport is far closer to the Capitol than Dulles International Airport in Virginia or Baltimore/Washington International Airport in Maryland.