Narrative:

Established on mount vernon visual runway 1 at dca, my aircraft was cleared to land runway 33, circle to land at the wilson bridge. During the circling maneuver (base leg), washington tower asked us to extend our pattern to the east for spacing. After we were established on final for runway 33, tower thanked us for the help. During the flare maneuver (idle thrust), tower instructed us to 'go around.' after we established a positive climb rate, we observed an aircraft resembling a B737 cross our flight path from left to right. It appeared that the other aircraft was departing from runway 1. During climb out, tower assigned a heading to us, but no altitude. I had to query for an altitude clearance. Approach control vectored us for a straight-in visual approach to runway 1. Approach and landing were without further incident. The underlying problem at dca is the lack of real estate. Too many flight operations are conducted under tremendous space constraints. Tower is pressured to conduct simultaneous operations to and from short, intersecting runways. Sometimes operations are not timed exactly, and serious mishaps are narrowly avoided.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: DURING FLARE ON RWY 33 AT DCA, A CL65 CREW IS INSTRUCTED TO GO AROUND BECAUSE OF A B737 THAT APPEARED TO THE PLTS TO BE DEPARTING RWY 1.

Narrative: ESTABLISHED ON MOUNT VERNON VISUAL RWY 1 AT DCA, MY ACFT WAS CLRED TO LAND RWY 33, CIRCLE TO LAND AT THE WILSON BRIDGE. DURING THE CIRCLING MANEUVER (BASE LEG), WASHINGTON TWR ASKED US TO EXTEND OUR PATTERN TO THE EAST FOR SPACING. AFTER WE WERE ESTABLISHED ON FINAL FOR RWY 33, TWR THANKED US FOR THE HELP. DURING THE FLARE MANEUVER (IDLE THRUST), TWR INSTRUCTED US TO 'GO AROUND.' AFTER WE ESTABLISHED A POSITIVE CLB RATE, WE OBSERVED AN ACFT RESEMBLING A B737 CROSS OUR FLT PATH FROM L TO R. IT APPEARED THAT THE OTHER ACFT WAS DEPARTING FROM RWY 1. DURING CLBOUT, TWR ASSIGNED A HDG TO US, BUT NO ALT. I HAD TO QUERY FOR AN ALT CLRNC. APCH CTL VECTORED US FOR A STRAIGHT-IN VISUAL APCH TO RWY 1. APCH AND LNDG WERE WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. THE UNDERLYING PROB AT DCA IS THE LACK OF REAL ESTATE. TOO MANY FLT OPS ARE CONDUCTED UNDER TREMENDOUS SPACE CONSTRAINTS. TWR IS PRESSURED TO CONDUCT SIMULTANEOUS OPS TO AND FROM SHORT, INTERSECTING RWYS. SOMETIMES OPS ARE NOT TIMED EXACTLY, AND SERIOUS MISHAPS ARE NARROWLY AVOIDED.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.