Why you should Never fly into Washington National Airport | Hacker News Reader

Why you should Never fly into Washington National Airport

jethead.wordpress.com

15 pointsdomino17 comments

I live in DC and fly into reagan all the time. There is a small park at the very end of the runway where you can watch planes landing that fly just 100 ft above you. It's pretty awesome.

The author of this post suggests you should rather fly into Dulles because the approach to reagan is so dangerous. What isn't factored in is that in rush hour, a commute from dulles to DC can take 2+ hours (and, mind you, the DC metro area has the worst traffic and highest rate of accidents in the country). From reagan you can take the metro and be downtown in 15 minutes. Also, a mere cost of a taxi from dulles (or BWI) to DC will cost just as much as your airfare.

> There is a small park at the very end of the runway where you can watch planes landing that fly just 100 ft above you. It's pretty awesome.

Yup, that's Gravelly Point [1]. It's right on the Mount Vernon bike trail that runs from DC to Mount Vernon through Alexandria, so it's a nice place to stop and hydrate if you're riding that trail (and are doing a leisurely fun ride rather than a time-is-the-enemy bike commute).

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravelly_Point

The post says there is a metro line to Dulles. Is this not correct?

There isn't a metro to Dulles. One is planned but it hasn't been built yet. They just finished the agreement on who would pay for the second phase from Wiehle Road on to IAD. The first part from West Falls Church station to Wiehle isn't complete yet. My understanding is that 2013 is the target date.

A taxi ride from Dulles to downtown Washington Dc isn't terrible. I've caught a ride from IAD to the Fairfax/Vienna metro for something like $35-40. The ride from there to downtown DC is about another 45 mins and $4-5. If you just cab it all the way, figure about $65-70 for the ride.

http://www.washfly.com/Taxi_rate.htm

Technically there's not a Metro rail line to Dulles, but there is a Metro express bus that runs there -- the 5A bus picks up passengers at L'Enfant Plaza in DC and Rosslyn in Virginia, and then goes straight out to Dulles without any further stops. [1]

Rail would be better, since the rail cars are more comfortable than buses and don't get stuck in traffic. Unfortunately given the dysfunctional nature of Metro governance the long-hoped-for rail line to Dulles is one of those things that never actually seems to get any closer to completion.

[1] http://wmata.com/bus/timetables/dc/05a.pdf

The 5A stops at Herndon and often at Tysons/Westpark as well. I don't mean this as a nitpick; it's relevant because a direct trip from Rosslyn to Dulles could take the airport lanes on the toll road all the way from the 66/267 split, but the additional stops mean the bus can't take advantage of the airport lanes, making for a painfully slow trip. I've done it a few times, and it's just not practical if one is travelling for business and at all pressed for time.

National on the other hand is a downright pleasure to fly out of. I go through National once every week or two and Dulles every month or so. Parking, security lines, and everything else are so much better at National.

He fails to mention that on the approach you get one of the best views of DC you can get, the pentagon on the right, and the entirety of the city on the left. It is one of the most scenic approaches of any major airport. And it being 10 minutes from downtown is nice as well.

Second this one - choose a window seat on the left if you have a flight into DCA. If you are lucky, you'll land from the north, and get an amazing view of the city as you approach - at pretty low altitude so you see everything very clearly.

I've lived here all my life and fly in and out of DCA every week or so, and that view still never gets old.

Great article. It's nice to hear from experts in other fields regarding things that involve their expertise, but affect me in ways I didn't previously understand. It's not unlike being in one of those conversations with my relatives on how the computer works...

Commenters are failing to mention that the article is about why you shouldn't fly a plane into Regan, not why you shouldn't be on a plane that is flying into Regan.

All of the issues is about piloting, not about traveling.

Well all else being equal, would you rather be on a flight with an "easy" approach and more margin for safety in terms of things like runway length and not falling into a river if the pilot makes a mistake, vs. not?

On the other hand, would you rather have a pilot that's relaxed due to an easy approach and not giving a landing his full attention or one that he knows he's coming into a dicey situation and giving it his all?

A valid point, commenters were just missing the point of the article. I doubt the author would have argued that the view coming in is wonderful.

If there's so little margin for error on the length of the runway that it makes the pilot nervous, why shouldn't it make the passengers nervous as well? Doesn't it make you even slightly nervous that the pilot would say this:

Look at the runway length of the “long” runway: that’s right, 6,800 feet–200′ shorter than LaGuardia’s aircraft carrier deck, and often on final approach, the tower will ask you to sidestep to the 5,200 foot runway instead. ... Then figure in the winds and the runway condition (wet? look at the numbers: fuggeddabout it) So the answer is usually “unable”–but at least half of the time I hear even full-sized (not just commuter sized) jets accepting the clearance.

I agree. While pilots have to be very cautious, being a passenger going into and out of that airport is a lot of fun!

The author posts this criticism of DCA from a pilot's perspective, but sprinkles it with cynical opinions on why passengers prefer DCA over IAD, which undermines the whole article. The reality is that I—and many others—would rather pay more to fly out of DCA than IAD. For me, it's Metro access that seals the deal. We'll see what happens after IAD becomes metro accessible.

There are a few airports I can think of around the world that are a little more concerning (and possibly more fun).

http://www.oddee.com/item_93109.aspx

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