Let’s refer back to the Airport Visits article. At that time I claimed that no airport existed within the physical boundaries of the District of Columbia. So unfortunately that would block me from ever traveling through airports in every state/territory/district in the United States.
However, I want to put a little asterisk next to the claim. That certainly held true for commercial aviation, whether general aviation or scheduled airline service. It also applied to fixed wing aircraft. It might be possible if the President ever invited me along for a ride on Marine One. Then we might land at Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling by helicopter. Well, realistically, I don’t think the influence of Twelve Mile Circle will ever grow strong enough to make that happen. So for now it remains an elusive goal.
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
It shouldn’t have been that way. National Airport (map) — later renamed Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport — really should have been part of the District of Columbia. Even the airport itself noted the inherent contradiction.
Certainly if an airport sat along the border between two states, the original boundaries would still exist. However, it involved a state and a Federal district instead. Open hostilities would have erupted if any state ever attempted such a blatant land grab against another. The Supreme Court would have certainly overturned it.
Nonetheless, the District of Columbia didn’t have the power to fight back and National Airport became a part of Virginia. So, in a sense I feel like I’ve landed at an airport in DC a couple of hundred times. Even so, the law says I’ve actually landed in Arlington, Virginia.
I wondered if the feat might have been possible during the early days of flight. Probably not. I couldn’t find a single reference to a commercial airport operating within the boundaries of the District of Columbia. Well, except for the early ambiguity of National Airport of course. Perhaps nobody in the entire history of aviation ever took a scheduled airline flight into or out of an airport within the physical confines of Washington, DC.
Military flights were a completely different story.
Anacostia and Bolling Field
There was a long history of fixed wing aircraft flights into and out of Naval Support Facility Anacostia and Bolling Field, now joined together as Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling (map). The military constructed two separate airstrips on the drained mudflats along the eastern side of the Anacostia/Potomac River confluence. Of course, this is very much within the borders of the District. Only a short taxiway separated the two airfields, essentially conjoining them. Despite that, the Navy and the Army (later the Air Force) operated them separately.
I mentioned the situation briefly in More Oddities in Washington, DC back in 2010. At the time I said that “I’ve done some additional research on this topic and I expect to post an in-depth article someday in the future.” Well, five years passed and I finally got around to it. I never claimed that 12MC was prompt or efficient.
Fixed Wing
I found a great resource that discussed aviation history at both facilities, Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Washington, DC. It included tons of photographs and maps if readers want to see all of the details. Apparently from about 1917 until 1962, fixed wing military aircraft landed routinely at both sites. During the World War II, as the source stated, Anacostia even became “a primary training base for naval aviation.”
Unfortunately the party ended on July 1, 1962 when “the last fixed-wing flight departed Bolling AFB, a C-54 carrying 33 passengers & 6 crew members, bound for nearby Andrews AFB.” The runways had to close for two primary reasons: (1) they were too short for jet aircraft and (2) National Airport stood directly across the river with some of the busiest commercial runways in the nation. The likelihood of a collision between military and civilian aircraft only increased as the years passed. Eventually it became an unmanageable risk.
Helicopters
Fear not, aviation continued even after runway removal at Anacostia and Bolling. But the focus shifted from airplanes to helicopters. The military constructed a control tower and still uses hangars there today. They are clearly visible along the banks of the river opposite from National Airport. For many years “Marine One,” the helicopter that transported the President of the United States on short trips, used Anacostia as its base.
Marine Helicopter Squadron One now operates out of of Quantico in Virginia. Even so, it continues to maintain a detachment at Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling. One can still see helicopters lifting off and landing at their facility within the District of Columbia quite regularly.
Special Cases – Not Recommended
A handful of civilian flights actually landed in the District within the last few decades. However, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. The latest involved a small gyrocopter landing on the grounds of the Capitol in April 2015 as a protest in support of campaign finance reform. Authorities arrested the perpetrator immediately. As the Federal Aviation Administration warned,
“The airspace around Washington, D.C. is more restricted than in any other part of the country. Rules put in place after the 9/11 attacks establish ‘national defense airspace’ over the area and limit aircraft operations to those with an FAA and Transportation Security Administration authorization. Violators face stiff fines and criminal penalties.”
It even made drones illegal “within a 30-mile radius of Ronald-Reagan Washington National Airport“. That’s right, under legal prohibition, I cannot fly a drone anywhere near my own home! Sadly, I believe it would be statistically impossible for me to ever fly into the District in any manner. It’s probably even a longer shot to arrive within its borders on a scheduled airline service.
Loyal Reader “Peter” mentioned that the state of Delaware lacked any scheduled airline service too. Nonetheless, airlines once served its largest city, Wilmington in the past. There might be some hope that service could return to Delaware someday. I don’t think that will ever happen in the District of Columbia, though.
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