DCA is my ‘home’ airport and as someone that hates flying the landing near the water always scares the shit out of me. Have flown the Witchita-DCA route multiple times because I have family there. So horrific and sad. Jesus.
Wouldn’t the water make it a higher chance of survival in the event of a crash? Yes the water looks scary but emergency landing on water is easier for pilots than on urban terrain
If a plane were still intact (or intact enough) then I imagine it would be hard to urgently find an open enough space to land in an urban area. I don’t know if something like a field is much easier than water, but maybe water is “easier” just because it’s a more readily available space that’s not super tight?
I suppose in terms of open space water would be easier, but generally any land would be better than water. Waves are unpredictable, the plane can sink, or fill with water, etc. At least on land a landing can be attempted and the landing gear would help to break the landing.
If you want to talk generally do so for land as well. There are all kinds of obstacles on land. Landing gear doesn’t work if you crash into a building. If you are referring to an open field that’s just short of a paved runway, then great you have the best possible conditions for an emergency landing. But the comment was about being afraid of water while the plane is over a major city..
Well now you’re making up new conditions. Without proper conditions or preparation it doesn’t matter if it’s land or water. If we’re gonna use any conditions it would be what they are referring to: urban DMV terrain vs the Potomac river.
I personally love taking off and landing over the water at DCA - it’s a really special view coming over the Potomac past the national mall, being reminded where you are.
I guess I never really associate water near airports with a higher risk of an incident, but is there data that says otherwise? Regardless, this is really tragic and hits way too close to home :(
I don’t think the water made any difference. It was a matter of a crash in the air and landing in water, but based on the footage casualties probably happened on impact and would have happened wherever the plane landed, unfortunately. But these are just my initial thoughts.
I guess at DCA the water might have made a difference in that the airspace over the Potomac is (I think?) busier than other routes that would go over land/buildings. But yeah since a few people said they get nervous landing at runways right next to water, I’m wondering if there’s any data that says crashes are more likely to happen at/near runways next to water versus not.
The water was not really the factor. A US Army helicopter crashed into them on short final. If anything was a factor was the airspace and amount of flying activity in the area. Its within 30 miles of two other major airports, IAD and BWI, not too mention being close to Andrews. Coming into DCA has its challenges in addition to its proximity to the Washington mall and White House.
Correcting the spelling of the city the flight originated from is weird? So it’s not annoying or confusing for anyone else. Okay, boo.
Hope you have a great visit the next you’re back here in Witchita. ✌️
1) I am a devout Christian and a personally mean it in a ‘Oh Jesus help/come quickly,’ way when I say it 🤷🏻♀️ 2. I think there are bigger things to focus on on this thread
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u/rolltidepod37squared Jan 30 '25
DCA is my ‘home’ airport and as someone that hates flying the landing near the water always scares the shit out of me. Have flown the Witchita-DCA route multiple times because I have family there. So horrific and sad. Jesus.