I knew there was a reason I hate landing at Washington National Airport.......

[marmar]

AP via Yahoo!:


Runway safety improvements lag at busy airports
By JOAN LOWY, Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON – Six-year-old Joshua Woods was singing Christmas songs on Dec. 8, 2005, when a runaway plane at Chicago's Midway Airport crashed through a fence and collided with his family's car, killing the boy. The tragedy underscores what the government says is an urgent safety problem.

Eleven major airports are struggling to meet federal requirements that runways be surrounded by safety areas that give runaway planes extra room to stop, according to a new report from the Transportation Department's inspector general. The airports account for nearly one quarter of the nation's air passenger travel.

All the airports have been working for years to come up with solutions, but often there's no place to send runaway planes because the airports are hemmed in by highways, water, buildings or other obstructions.

The airports are located in Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, N.C., Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco and Washington. Midway made safety improvements two years after Woods' death.

Between 1997 and 2007, 75 aircraft overran or veered off runways, resulting in nearly 200 injuries and 12 deaths, the report said. In just three of the accidents cited in the report, 80 injuries and Woods' death could have been prevented if safety improvements to runways made after the accidents had been in place beforehand, report said. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090310/ap_on_go_ot/runway_overruns

[elleng]

1. Fooled me!

I thought you were gonna say 'Its called Reagan National Airport!'

[marmar]

2. I refuse to acknowledge that name......

..... I was riding the Metro once (the blue line) and a guy asked me if this was the right train to go to Reagan Airport.
I responded, "You mean National Airport? Yes."
He seemed rather irritated. Probably a St. Ronnie worshipper.

[elleng]

8. I'm the same way!

I actually hesitated about writing the name here!

I remember when I first heard their intentions to change the name; couldn't believe it THEN, can't believe it NOW!

[architect359]

13. Thanks!

Just thought to add that I, also, appreciate your use of "Washington National" rather than the newer name. When I lived in DC a few years back, it irked me that some senator from some *other* state (Georgia?) would come in and change the name. (@#(&@#^%&@%!! Anyway, it was always gratifying to hear the Metro operators / bus drivers / locals still refer to the airport's old name. I've been away for almost 5 years now so I wonder if it's still prevelent in DC to use the old name. Have you noticed?

[marmar]

14. I've heard Metro operators say it both ways....

Some just say National Airport, others (reluctantly) say "Reagan National Airport" or "Reagan Airport"

[SheilaT]

3. I worked at DCA (Washington National Airport)

for ten years, and until sometime recently the longest runway was exactly one mile long, 5,280 feet. It's been lengthened to 6,869 feet.

Like so many airports, National was built next to a river and the city has grown up around it. Things could be worse. Hoover Field, the first airport in Washington DC had a runway that intersected a road, and traffic had to be stopped for planes to take off or land. The Pentagon is now where Hoover Field used to be.

[marmar]

4. True. And actually I think LaGuardia is worse......

..... at least the terminal is nice at DCA. LaGuardia sucks.

[SheilaT]

19. I was last in LaGuardia

about five or six years ago. My Midwest Air flight was delayed, so I wound up walking all around the terminal there, and was flabbergasted to see that it's apparently unchanged since it was built. It's small! Sort of like if DCA's Main Terminal were still the only terminal at that airport.

The original floor at National had a wonderful mosaic, or inlaid something which was covered up in the mid-70's. I no longer recall exactly what it was, but I recall we employees were appalled when it was covered up.

[cboy4]

5. The normal landing pattern into San Francisco is onto

runways 28L and 28 R .. the right side being almost 12,000 feet long.

(The planes would land toward you looking at this photo, with 28R being on the left hand side of the pic)

There's a parking lot at the end of the runways, although in bad weather, the planes often land on Runways 10 looking toward the Bay).



That would take quite a landing calamity to use up more runway than that, considering the obviously more worrisome heavy jets would have shed most of their fuel weight, and are easier to stop landing than during a rejected take-off.

I think while it's good to look at continued safety improvements, sometimes these media stories about reports only frighten people who aren't really familiar with aviation, and the overwhelmingly positive safety record.

And it should be pointed out, the Midway over-run fatal involved a pilot landing in snowy conditions that most experts agree he should not have attempted on such a short runway.

[marmar]

6. I'm usually too mesmerized by the Bay and the mountains landing in SFO.....

.... to worry about the landing. :)

[cboy4]

12. Considering there's busy Oakland and San Jose airports

nearby, the air traffic controllers do a remarkable job sequencing everyone safely.

And yea, I never get bored looking out the windows. :)

[leveymg]

7. Both ends of the DCA main runway end in the Potomac River. You won't hit a parking lot.

Last thing that's going to happen at National is a longer runway, unless it gets built out into the middle of the river.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

9. Besides the official name (which I refuse to say), Washington National is just a lousy airport

When I lived in Maryland, I always remember parking at that place was always impossible and if you missed a turnoff, you had to loop all the way around.

They did remodel the terminal rather nicely. That's about the only good thing I could say about the place.

But there was a reason my family barely ever used that airport unless we had to. BWI was lightyears better.

[Retrograde]

18. But convenient to DC

the last 2 times I had business in DC I flew in to National (I don't care where the pilot said it was going, I was going to National. So there.) and took the Metro in to town. Much easier than Dulles if you're just going to be in the capital area anyway.

I don't like the people movers at Dulles: they make me feel like I'm not in control of when I get to my gate. And they remind me of something out of the 50s: when do I get my rocket belt to go with them?

[panader0]

10. When I was 16 we landed in Hong Kong.

Most of the runway is built out into the water.

[marmar]

11. I've seen pics of the landings into the old Hong Kong airport.....

......looked a little hair-raising.

[cboy4]

15. Yea, that was the checkboard turn .. my dad who flies for United

said it was a white-knuckle experience landing there in poor weather. ;)

A 47 degree bank! WEEEEEEE!



COOL VIDEO!-------------> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaKbRbqzTqI

[marmar]

16. That video is awesome......

Yikes! :scared:

[DemoTex]

17. I was an airline pilot based at DCA (Washington National) for years ..

I flew Boeing 737-200/300/400s and MD-80s in and out of DCA, as well as most of the other airports listed in the article. Runway lengths of the longest two runways at DCA are not per se problematic (6869 feet and 5204 feet).

The longest runway (1/19) is the default runway for almost all mainline jet operations -- with smaller regional jets and corporate jets using 15/33 on occasion. Turbo-props and the like use all three runways, especially the shortest, 4/22. Jets like the Boeing 737 sometimes land on 33 when conditions dictate.

Washington National is designated as a Special Airport by Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR 121 - major airlines) because of unique arrival and departure procedures. Airline pilots (FAR 121) are required to maintain special qualifications to fly in and out of DCA and several other airports. At my airline, because of out frequent flights into Washington National and NY La Guardia, we did beaucoup simulator training using DCA and LGA as the training field.

There are three big problems at DCA (BOS, LGA, too): Birds, LAHSO, and SOIR. Birds are especially bad along the Potomac River flyway, and by birds I mean particularly ducks and geese. I have long predicted a double-engine failure from bird strikes somewhere along the Potomac River approaches/departures at Washington National. Captain Sullenberger proved me off by several hundred miles. Still, the big-bird problem is bad at DCA.

LASHO and SOIR are different. LASHO stands for land-and-hold-short operations and SOIR stands for simultaneous operations on intersecting runways. LASHO and SOIR are FAA cheap gimicks for increasing the number of flights in and out of an airport like DCA, LGA, or BOS without spending the money on the ground for more and better runways. Pilots, almost universally, HATE LASHO and SOIR operations. It is my sense that air traffic controllers aren't real fond of those operations, either (I'd love MercurioATC's opinion).



Looking south from over the 14st St. bridge: