WingNews logo WingNews
top | item 34414730

(no title)

throw827474737 | 3 years ago

Hmm, can someone just paint me that path into Google Maps?

Washington National has no 18, but only a 19, and I guess everyone takes off southwards as directly north is the White House? Also the river is like parallel to the runway and then the natural extension of it, so "follow the river" there is super clear, no turn needed?

I must be looking at the wrong airport?

discuss

order

wolrah|3 years ago

> Washington National has no 18, but only a 19

Depending on how long ago this happened that could be the same runway. There was an article that made the front page here in the last month or so about how the movement of the magnetic poles requires runway names to be adjusted periodically. This isn't that same article, I didn't feel like digging through my history, but it explains the same topic.

https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/airport-runway-names-shift-ma...

Agreed on the rest though, I just can't figure out a path that makes this story make sense.

snowwrestler|3 years ago

When planes take off northbound from National, they immediately bank left (northwest) to remain over the river and avoid the exclusion zones in DC.

Conversely, planes landing southbound follow the river and so are banking to the right until a few seconds before touching down.

cowsup|3 years ago

You’re correct. I live near DC and travel there for photography (much like the novice pilot in the OP).

If you’re flying near DC, or anywhere really, you should at least have a broad understanding of where you cannot fly. That is your responsibility; nobody in your ear will say “remember, don’t go to the restricted airspace.”

The pilot never claims to be the victim here, either. They screwed up and learned their lesson.

dwater|3 years ago

I used to sit nearby on my lunch break, and on a clear day you could watch planes after takeoff clearly follow the course of the river N/NW until completely out of sight, which would probably have been close the DC/Maryland border. They would be going in and out every few minutes and they all took the exact same flight path.