Why you should Never fly into Washington National Airport

I live in DC and fly into reagan all the time. There is a small park at the very end of the runway where you can watch planes landing that fly just 100 ft above you. It's pretty awesome.<p>The author of this post suggests you should rather fly into Dulles because the approach to reagan is so dangerous. What isn't factored in is that in rush hour, a commute from dulles to DC can take 2+ hours (and, mind you, the DC metro area has the worst traffic and highest rate of accidents in the country). From reagan you can take the metro and be downtown in 15 minutes. Also, a mere cost of a taxi from dulles (or BWI) to DC will cost just as much as your airfare.

He fails to mention that on the approach you get one of the best views of DC you can get, the pentagon on the right, and the entirety of the city on the left. It is one of the most scenic approaches of any major airport. And it being 10 minutes from downtown is nice as well.

Great article. It's nice to hear from experts in other fields regarding things that involve their expertise, but affect me in ways I didn't previously understand. It's not unlike being in one of those conversations with my relatives on how the computer works...

Commenters are failing to mention that the article is about why you shouldn't fly a plane into Regan, not why you shouldn't be on a plane that is flying into Regan.<p>All of the issues is about piloting, not about traveling.

The author posts this criticism of DCA from a pilot's perspective, but sprinkles it with cynical opinions on why <i>passengers</i> prefer DCA over IAD, which undermines the whole article. The reality is that I—and many others—would rather pay more to fly out of DCA than IAD. For me, it's Metro access that seals the deal. We'll see what happens after IAD becomes metro accessible.

There are a few airports I can think of around the world that are a little more concerning (and possibly more fun).<p><a href="http://www.oddee.com/item_93109.aspx" rel="nofollow">http://www.oddee.com/item_93109.aspx</a>