Which side of the plane into DCA?
 

Hi,

In mid-August I'm flying into and out of DCA on United Airlines. Is there a particular side of the plane that's better than the other with respect to the view out the window?

Thanks.

Cheers,
Geoff Glave
Vancouver, Canada

If you sit at a window on the left side of the plane you can see the Washington Monument, Capitol Building, Lincoln Memorial and White House (at least I think that was the White House). It always amazes me how close you are to these things when you land.

I saw all of that on my first trip into DCA. When I passed through again, I was mad because I was on the right side of the plane and couldn't see any of those things, then I finally took a glance out my own window though and saw the Pentagon up close and personal.

That's my favorite airport to fly into because you can see so many things.

Left side of the plane is the best when landing to the south (Rwy 19).
If landing to the north (Rwy 01) it doesn't make any differnce since there is not much to see flying up the Potomac and over the Wilson Bridge.

You have to remember that flights land and approach differently. Take STL for example, sometimes flying there from BDL we fly right next to the Arch and it is an amazing view from the left side, other times we fly in over St. Charles, MO and there is no view of anything. So it all depends. The best bet for DCA would be the left side, however there is no guarantee that you will see anything but some rooftops of homes in Arlington.

sit on right, tell them to take off north.

Somewhat of a gamble, but your best bet is on the left side of the plane hoping for the river visual. And take the right side for the way out. Out of curiosity, is the flight at night?

Just so you know, flights do not land and approach differently into DCA -- this is a very restricted flight space, and very tight.

To the OP -- hope you had a good view either coming in, or going out, and a good visit.

While you are correct that flights are restricted, they do make changes according to weather. Prevailing wind changes will result in either a northern approach or a southern approach. The approach from the south essentially results in no view of the city at all except on landing. The approach from the north can result in a spectacular view of the city from the left-hand side of the plane.

Also, when the cloud ceiling is very low the northern approach can shift as well, from a "follow the Potomac" approach to a more straight line approach. I am currently living under the north approach and the difference is quite noticeable from the ground. I don't know how noticeable it is from the air.

It also depends on from where you are coming. If you are arriving into DCA from someplace West of the DC area, you often approach the city along the potomac before turning south over the west Arlington area. You head south from there until over Mount Vernon where you make the big turn and head north into DCA via the southern approach. When you make the turn over Arlington and the weather isn't too bad, you get a nice view of the city off the left side of the aircraft. Granted, it's not the same as the spectacular north approach, but you at least get to see the major sights from the air. If you are arriving from a location in the northeast or southeast US (or Canada I would assume), they swing you over the East or South sides of DC and the view isn't all that great if they are using the Southern approach then. Your best bet is to sit on the left for arrival into DCA, right for departure, and hope for the northern approach. This is definatly one to be done at night as well.

9 times out of 10 coming from Canada I find it best to sit on the left when landing

dca makes an effort to take off south, and land north. more money up north, planes make less noise landing.

the only interesting sites are north and east of dca. so sit on the port side and plan on a north to south landing. sit on the starboard side taking off and hope for enough wind from the north to force a takeoff to the north.

by the way, if you sit opposite, you have an excellent opportunity to see my house and pier, which is to the south east of dca by about 7 miles.