Originally Posted by Flyer1965
Because the plane has to stay over the river to avoid noise to the neighborhoods near the airport, when the river turns sharply north of the airport, so must the airplane, so your view of downtown (taking off looking out the right side) is VERY brief (5-10 seconds), and if you're not in the window seat you won't see anything at all.
I thought the noise-abatement procedures were abandoned when DCA was reopened in October, 2001, leading to complaints by residents, but perhaps they were reinstated.