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Near Mid-air in BOS

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My Personal Favorite at DCA....

"cleared for fast taxi..... expect takeoff clearance shortly"

or "position and hold power up"... while you see lights turning over the bridge... yikes
 
Holy Molly, that would cause me to need to change my pants. I don't understand why two different controllers are clearing for departure, on intersecting runways.

Wow.
Good job by the crews.
 
poorFITgrad'02 said:
Maybe its me, but I'm BOS based and DCA seems to be much more sketchy.
OHHH, you have no idea!!!

My advice - DO NOT EVER ACCEPT 33 when it's proffered by ATC, particularly for takeoff.

Take a careful look at the airport diagram for DCA. To get tot 33 you have to cross two runways and you'll be on tower a grand total of about 38 seconds when they clear you to do something with that runway. Sounds pretty normal so far right?

Here's where you get bit. First, the fact that you're on tower for such a short time means that you won't have a lot of time to hear what the CONTEXT of your operation actually is - i.e. who's landing or taking off on 1 - you simply will not have the opportunity to hear the clearance when it's issued.

"Okay," you say, "I'll just look extra carefully for traffic now that I know I'm in a more vulnerable position using that runway." That's not as easy as it sounds much less as easy as it SHOULD be. You see, when you're cleared on to a runway the normal thing to do is have a look out the window and scan for traffic. Usually, there's an obligatory "clear right" and a "clear left" and the your good right? Not at DCA - not by a LONG stretch.

At DCA the geometry of the airport is such that when you're in position on 33 you must look BEHIND you just to see the threshold of runway 1. The approach corridor is another matter altogether. The viewing angle that you must be able to achieve is 31° aft just to see the threshold.

“No problem,” you say again, “I’ll make sure I take a good look behind me next time, okay?” NO! Not okay. Not all aircraft are created equal. There is no uniform standard for cockpit visibility except the provision in Part 25 that says the windows have to provide enough visibility to the pilots for them to be able to perform their jobs.

Some aircraft are configured with wings on top of the fuselage and two that go in to DCA (or at least used to) with performance good enough for 33 are the Do-Jet and the Dash-8. You just try looking 31° behind and up in one of those planes. All you’re gonna see is engine and wing and not much else.

The upshot of all this is that depending on what aircraft type you’re in you may be SUBSTANTIALLY more threatened than you realize. If you’re in a Dash-8 departing from 33 you have no idea who’s on final or where they are on final because they were cleared to land long before you were ever on frequency. It is physically impossible for you to look for yourself and see an impending threat because of aircraft structures in the way.

And then tower clears you for takeoff without quoting the traffic on final – as they’re supposed to – because, well, they just made a mistake. How’s that for a scenario? Seen it happen.

It’s worth pointing out, in conclusion, that noting what type of airplane is sitting on 33 if you’re on final to 1 at DCA is also a good idea. It tells you something about what is and what is NOT possible from the OTHER pilot’s point of view.

Just FYI.

TIS
 
sky37d said:
I don't understand why two different controllers are clearing for departure, on intersecting runways.

Yeah, that's our FAA! Serving the needs of aviation - one mistake at a time!
 
In spite of unfortunate events like this the US runs the safest airspace system in the world. No one comes close, for example Southern California Tracon runs more air traffic annually than all of Europe combined.
 
Yeah I agree, good job Airways. Seems they have a habit of fixing controller mistakes up there. Wasn't it BOS where the United got lost in the fog and tower tried to launch Airways?
 
no that was PVD and the biatch controller there.
 

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