Originally Posted by
Hot 'n' High
I've no insider knowledge but, given how the first AA accepted it and the following AA asked for it specifically, it may have been common practice within AA. Not all line pilots may fully appreciate the potential issues linked with, say, that particular sidestep.
I raised the airline responsibility bit more as "idle thoughts" to illustrate that everyone can play their part in making things safer in cases such as this - including airlines. However, it does need (a) identification of the issue, (b) then good analysis to scope it all and, finally, if there is a "real" potential issue after that analysis, (c) to work out a formal policy (here with AA and DCA) so everyone knows what's what and, importantly, appreciates any knock-on issues that such a policy may generate - such as maybe cutting down on ATC's flexibility on occasion.
So, for eg, it could have been a joint AA/DCA policy that AA would not be placed on the sidestep, or accepted on the sidestep, while something was on Route 4. Irrelevant here now as Route 4 has gone ..... but the above concept can be applied to other potential issues at other airfields.
Anyway, just some thoughts. I'll revert to lurking! Cheers, H 'n' H
It is buried in all these pages of this thread,,,but it seems that tragically so, 2-3 aircrafts before the fatal 5342, ATC requested rwy33 to another crew (same aircraft, same airline iirc) , and they declined ("Unable")