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I had the same skeptical reaction to this story. The runways may have changed numbers (I’m not sure how to confirm this), but if they were crossing the river ta
by thrwwy95fab9d1 4y ago
I had the same skeptical reaction to this story. The runways may have changed numbers (I’m not sure how to confirm this), but if they were crossing the river taking off from what is now runway 19, they seriously deviated from their flight plan and deserved the call.
- StaleTortilla 4y agoSo glad I'm not the only one interested in looking at a map to help understand the story. The runway numbers did indeed change, back in 1999: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan_Washington_National_Airport#:~:text=Runways%2018/36%20and%203/21%20were%20renumbered%20as%201/19%20and%204/22%20in%201999%20as%20earth%27s%20magnetic%20field%20drifted.%5B28%5D https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan_Washington_Natio... Agreed that the pilot definitely made a huge, and not really reasonable mistake. Even though it was pre-9/11, I'd expect a pilot who was going to fly in/around DC to know there's going to be restricted airspace and to take the time to understand it. (if link doesn't work, go to the Wikipedia article for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and look at the bullets under "Expansion and restrictions")
- dkjaudyeqooe 4y agoWith magnetic shift runway 18 could very well have been renamed 19.
- mike_d 4y ago> The runways may have changed numbers (I’m not sure how to confirm this) Runways and named by taking the degrees from magnetic north and dropping the last digit. Parallel runways will be designated (for example) 31L(eft) 31C(enter) 31R(right). You'd need to rotate the runway to rename it.
- margalabargala 4y agoThat's one option. The other one is to move magnetic north. This story is from the early 80s. The magnetic north pole moves around 40 miles per year. What was once runway 18 at DCA over 40 years ago is now 19.