Regan National Airport


Is named in honor of President Ronald Regan, who was President of the United States of America in the 1980s.

Located

It is located in Arlington, Virginia

This is across the Potomac River

Airport

The call sign is DCA

Opened up on June 16, 1941. This is a tricky airport to get into due to restricted and prohibited airspace due to it being only 5 miles from downtown D.C. If you are flying into or out of this airport can’t exceed 1,200 statute miles in any direction for nonstop flights.

Not sure what is a statute mile well I got you covered.

noun

 a unit of length equal to 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet; exactly 1609.344 meters

From <https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/statute%20mile>

With it being a small airport it serves 91 nonstop destinations, and Salt Lake City is one of them. It is a hub for American Airlines.

Some odd things about this airport

After the September 11 attacks, the airport was closed for several weeks, and security was tightened when it reopened. Increased security measures included:

  • A ban on aircraft with more than 156 seats
    • That was lifted in April 2002
  • A ban on the “River Visual” approach
    • Lifted in April 2002
  • A requirement that 30 minutes prior to landing or following takeoff, passengers were required to remain seated; if anyone stood up, the aircraft was to be diverted to Dulles International airport under military escort and the person standing would be detained and questioned by federal law enforcement officials. 
    • Lifted in July 2005
  • A ban on general aviation
    • Lifted in October 2005
    • On October 18, 2005, reopened to general aviation on a limited basis
      • 48 operations per day
      • Passenger and crew manifests must be submitted to the Transportation Security Administration 24 hours in advance.
      • All planes must pass through one of the roughly 70 “gateway airports where re-inspections of aircraft, passengers, and baggage take place
      • An armed security officer must be on board before departing a gateway airport
  • On March 23, 2011, the air traffic control supervisor on duty reportedly fell asleep during the night shift. Two aircraft on approach to the airport were unable to contact anyone in the tower and landed unassisted.

From <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan_Washington_National_Airport>

My Thoughts

I picked this airport due to the fact that Delta flew non-stop to it and it was close to D.C. so it would be easy to get to the hotel. Yes, it is a bit outdated being 81 years old as of me writing this post. (July 27, 2022). It was an interesting Airport, to say the least. Well, at least in my opinion. Fly into it if you can.

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