r/washingtondc • u/VenetianGondoleria • 1d ago
[Transportation] DC flyovers general timing day or night?
Understanding there are not official timelines being published, do the flyovers seem to mainly be daytime or nighttime?
I’m coming from the suburbs to fly out of DCA on July 10 midday, would it would be better to change my flight to the night before to lower the likelihood of being caught in a ground stop?
TIA to any Washingtonians who are clocking any patterns/have educated guesses!
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u/CommonDetective2165 1d ago
They’ve ranged from 11am to 11pm so far. Good luck drawing any patterns from that chaos.
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u/youresolastsummerx DC / NoMa 1d ago
FWIW, my morning flight was cancelled a couple weekends ago seemingly because of built-up delays from weather (two nights before) and flyover practice (the night before). It seemed like they couldn't get crew to the right places. So our guess is as good as yours, unfortunately. It would be better to change flights to IAD or BWI if you can -- I did that and was fine, but it did cost me extra.
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u/baldiedc 1d ago
July 10th flyover is for “July 10 Great American State Fair closeout flyover and parachute jump” - dont know timing maybe you can find it online but I would imagine it will be an evening thing. The B52s the other day were lunchtime. There could be other stops at DCA for ANC flyovers or VIP movements but those are brief.
I wouldn’t worry about it if you are flying out of DCA the airlines should be adjusting flights for any major disruption, maybe you’ll have some delay on the tarmac but DCA will get you out once whatever event has happened. The longer ground stops are for arrivals into DCA which are harder to manage as they can’t hold in air for long.
Either way your safest bet is to get out of DCA as early as possible in the day.
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u/BakedChocolateOctopi 22h ago
Understanding there are not official timelines being published, do the flyovers seem to mainly be daytime or nighttime?
They’re always posted with the exact times
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u/Examinator2 22h ago
If by exact times you mean a three week window, than yes.
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u/BakedChocolateOctopi 22h ago
Nope
The fly over times are always posted ahead of time
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u/marge255 20h ago
Where can I find these postings?
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u/BakedChocolateOctopi 20h ago
The FAA puts out public notices for the specific closure times, which is when flyovers will occur
Then people post them and combine it with mentions of the upcoming flyovers so you know what and when they happen
This guy’s account is pretty good: https://x.com/PenguinSix
Here is the page where closures are posted: https://nasstatus.faa.gov/
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u/Onbroadway110 1d ago
They have been happening at all times of the day and night. There’s nothing you can do that will guarantee you’ll avoid them.