Last night’s tragic crash in DC really disturbed me and undoubtedly so many others around the country and the world. My thoughts are with the families of those affected as well as the entire industry who is in shock over this accident.
It’s upsetting to see people start shooting blame so soon, particularly knowing how many issues and factors aligned to cause such horrific tragedy. At this point, we don’t yet know why two aircraft collided on a perfectly clear but busy winter night in DC.
A few people today have asked me about the challenges of flying into and out of DCA so I figured I would share some thoughts, possibly as a way to process the events of last night myself.
DCA Is A Complex Airport For Many Reasons
Over the past few years, I’ve flown into DCA a number of times. I’ve flown in and out of the busy DC airspace hundreds of times over my career. Captains who I’ve flown with have operated at the airport for even longer.
Everyone in the profession understands the ins and outs and the complexity of operating at DCA. The pilots and the controllers are utmost professionals who take their jobs very seriously and would do anything and everything in their power to avoid what occurred yesterday.
DCA is a very complex airport both due to its design, its busy airspace, location, operating requirements, restricted airspace, and government restrictions.
Originally built for a much different era of aviation
DCA was an airport originally built for much slower prop aircraft in the 1940s. The airport features three runways, most still long enough for today’s jet traffic but relatively short by today’s standards. The design of the airport forces a complex choreographed ballet of operations between the intersecting runways. Multiple runways are used for takeoffs and landings at alternating times, typically in rapid fire succession.
Limited space on the ground for a large operation
The limited footprint of the airport requires precise attention to detail both in the air and the ground. On the ground, aircraft must often cross other active runways to the tarmac. This requires precise language and timing by both the pilots and the controllers.
The airspace is very busy. DCA is located in the heart of DC with multiple other airports in the region. This means that radio traffic in the region is bustling everyday, made even busier during bad weather or prominent national events that increase traffic even further.
Nation’s Capitol to the north of the field
The airspace immediately to the north of DCA is prohibited due to its close proximity to both the capitol, National Mall, and the White House. Unlike a normal airport where low altitude turns are avoided, DCA departures to the north require an immediate left turn at around 300 feet to stay south of the prohibited Capitol airspace.
Quirky Approaches due to airspace requirements
Aircraft on arrival in a south flow have to follow the Potomac river for arrival forcing an impressive low altitude final turn to align with runway 15 or 19. This has been made easier by RNP approaches that guide every turn.
Even when landing to the north though, aircraft are requested to overfly the river for noise abatement forcing gentle but otherwise unnecessary turns on short final.
Traffic volume that requires constant optimization
Many times, regional aircraft and sometimes larger aircraft are requested by tower to circle to runway 33 as what occurred last night. This maneuver allows for more efficient aircraft utilization of the runways. Once again, this maneuver is safe and common but the low altitude maneuver requires mental sharpness and focus to safely accomplish.
Significant traffic transiting the airspace
Military helicopters routinely transition the Potomac river at low altitudes very close to DCA, making last night’s events both startling in the result but not unusual at all that the operations were occurring in the area simultaneously. While (once again) not inherently unsafe, the complex operations so close to the field require additional attention to detail to keep operations safe.
Convenience makes DCA popularity ever growing
Lured by the close proximity to the city, DCA has continued to grow in popularity over the years. While the airport is slot restricted, congress just recently approved 5 additional flights into DCA beginning this year.
…And add in security and weather
Beyond just the airspace and the airport environment, you have additional factors that make operations into DCA more complex. It’s proximity to the Nation’s Capitol require additional security measures. The weather in the area is very dynamic too adding an additional layer of complexity. All of these factors come together to make DCA one of the more challenging airports to operate in the United States.
Changes won’t be easy and might not be popular
While operations will undoubtedly resume shortly, the longer path forward for DCA is not yet clear. In an ideal world, you would build a new airport nearby with 9,000 foot runways and wider margins from the prohibited airspace and VFR helicopter routes. With the density of the DC area though, the cost of a new airport, and the lack of available land that is highly unlikely to occur.
Congress could mandate less flights into the airport but that would be unpopular and have significant economic impact to the region, airlines, and the efficiency of government.
A crash like yesterday could force a more radical shift in the thinking of DCA operations. A pie in the sky idea I’ve always thought about would be closing DCA to airline traffic, building high speed rail between DCA and Dulles (much faster than the current silver line Metro service) that shift all operations to the larger international airport. DCA would then remain open only for military and government traffic or closed all together.
At this point though, the truth is that no one knows what will happen net. There will be plenty of time to debate and figure out next steps.
For Now, Let’s Pause To Remember And Honor Their Memory
The bottom line is that this tragedy is an inflection point for DCA. For today though, it is most appropriate to reflect and mourn. May we learn from this tragedy and honor the dead and their families by finding ways never to let it happen again.
