Good riddance to LDA-Z

In low visibility conditions, when the clouds are below 3,500’ and/or visibility is less than three miles, aircraft without modern avionics are guided by land-based radio beams called Localizer Type Directional Aid (LDA).  As illustrated above, the “Notorious LDA-Z” beam is straight-line flight path guidance from Glen Echo, MD to DCA.  These aircraft fly directly over our neighborhoods. The FAA is adopting a recommendation from the CWG to implement a GPS guided flight path that will move these planes over the river. 

<New> Current Status of project to replace LDA-Z with RNAV GPS: 

The FAA implemented RNAV GPS in mid July.  One communter carrier has not converted its operations, but the FAA expects them to be done by the end of August.  Palisades residents have noticed that during low visibility conditions, more planes are adhering to the river path.

The LDA-Z equipment has been taken down for repair and renovation.  The FAA expects that the LDA-Z beam will be operational again in October.  At that point, however, LDA-Z will only be used as a safety fallback in the event that an aircraft can not use RNAV paths (such as equipement failure).

LDA-Z Background Information