Low vis approaches to Reagan National, Washington DC

[The Nr Fairy]

I was sat on the Sky Terrace of the Hotel Washingto, watching all the traffic into Reagan National at Washington, and they were flying a curved approach, like a less strenous version of the old Kai Tak approach, because they were approaching from the northwest.

In decent vis and cloudbase, this isn't too much of a problem. But what happens the weather deteriorates ? I'm not a big-iron pilot, but the words "stabilised approach" spring to mind, and the final right turn at about 450' seems to go against that grain ?

I'm aware there may be security sensitivities here - if I'm treading on thin ice let me know and I'll bin the thread.

[bookworm]

I guess you were watching the LDA/DME19 (http://www.myairplane.com/databases/approach/NorthEast/DCA_LDAdr19.pdf) (MDH ~ 700 ft) or the ROSSLYN LDA (http://www.myairplane.com/databases/approach/NorthEast/DCA_ROSSLYN%20LDA%20r19.pdf) (MDH ~ 1100 ft), or perhaps even a RIVER VISUAL (http://www.myairplane.com/databases/approach/NorthEast/DCA_RIVER%20VISUAL%20r19.pdf).

If the weather is below those minima, I guess they wouldn't be using 15 or 19.

[av8boy]

Of course, if the weather is below those minima you wouldn't be able to see them from the Hotel Washington either!:D

I did exactly the same thing from exactly the same spot not long ago. What a shock it was the first time I walked out there and was confronted with the view (now some years ago). Really doesn't get old. Now if they could just do something with the lobby bar... :rolleyes:

Dave

[seacue]

The only approach to National in _really_ low vis. is to Runway 01.

[kabz]

I do Newark->DCA->Houston sometimes as a pax, and the "canyon flying" down the river is pretty cool.

A 737 guy I talked to said it was one of the few really fun things he gets to do .... :ok:


[edited to say as a pax :( )

[General Mitrokhin]

Nr Fairy

There are no security implications - all approaches are published and available in the public domain.

Basically the "River Visual" (to Runway 19) is the approach used when visibility is good and there is a southerly component to the wind (common in the Summer months). This is the approach you saw and involves the pilots following the twists and turns of the Potomac River.

When visibility drops it is still possible to land on Runway 19 - there is a VOR approach which uses a radial of somewhere around 150 degrees to the DCA VOR which is located on the north side of the airfield close to the threshold of 19.

If visibility drops further there is an LDA approach which is on a similar course to the VOR approach but is based on an ILS -type device offset from the runway heading (by around 30 degrees). This is similar to what was available at Kai Tak.

All approaches to 19 involve a late turn but the latter ones allow operations in all but the lowest visibility.

In these situations an ILS to 01 would be the only option to the larger jets (the other DCA runways are shorter and I don't think equiped with ILS).

Should the tailwind component for 01 be too high (this is unlikely given that high winds and low viz are generally not encountered together) flight would have to divert to nearby airports with better equipment (IAD or BWI).

I'm not a pilot so I'm happy to be corrected if any of this is wrong.

[seacue]

Here's a plane on the normal River Approach to DCA. The plane is over the middle of the river and is making the final turn to line up with Rwy 19. Hundreds of planes use this approach many days. The picture comes from a TV station CityCam and is not doctored in any way.
Picture (http://users.erols.com/rcarpen/dca021110.jpg)

[av8boy]

There are no security implications -

Quite true. But when you're standing up on top of the hotel it is hard to imagine that what you're doing is legal. Seems awfully voyeuristic being able to see as much as you can see from up there!

Dave :ok: