Narrative:

Dca closes runway 1/19 nightly at 0300z. If the runways are wet; they say they will not close runway 1/19. If 1/19 closes; we land on 15/33; 5204 ft. I was informed that the 'policy' in place by the washington airport operations is ' if it's not raining; the runways are dry'. I called last night to get information from airport operations and was rudely talked to by a man that refused to give his name. He said he's tired of talking to our airline and he's too busy to talk to me and hung up. I called back and this time a different person answered the phone. He/she gave me information of who needed to be contacted. I was again transferred to the same person as before and he again refused to identify himself and hung up on me again. We have big communications issue with airport operations involving safety of flight. Our operations agents have been instructed by their station manager to just show the runways dry and not question it. Well one of these nights we are going to be told the runways are dry and flight will land on 15 or 33 and not be able to stop. Washington airport operations uses the idea that if it's not raining the runways are dry because the runway is grooved. When thrust reverses are applied; where does that water in the grooves go? It is sent forward of the landing gear by the reverse thrust. This policy is an accident waiting to happen. Our station manager has basically agreed to the policy. Two operations agents were reprimanded for showing the runways wet after airport operations said they were dry. Cause; lack of safety concern on the part of dca airport operations.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air Carrier Dispatcher voiced concern regarding DCA Airport policy regarding runway conditions; i.e. wet and/or dry; the reporter indicating the policy is a safety concern for aircraft operations.

Narrative: DCA closes Runway 1/19 nightly at 0300z. If the runways are wet; they say they will not close Runway 1/19. If 1/19 closes; we land on 15/33; 5204 ft. I was informed that the 'policy' in place by the Washington Airport Operations is ' if it's not raining; the runways are dry'. I called last night to get information from Airport Operations and was rudely talked to by a man that refused to give his name. He said he's tired of talking to our airline and he's too busy to talk to me and hung up. I called back and this time a different person answered the phone. He/She gave me information of who needed to be contacted. I was again transferred to the same person as before and he again refused to identify himself and hung up on me again. We have big communications issue with Airport Operations involving safety of flight. Our operations agents have been instructed by their station manager to just show the runways dry and not question it. Well one of these nights we are going to be told the runways are dry and flight will land on 15 or 33 and not be able to stop. Washington Airport Operations uses the idea that if it's not raining the runways are dry because the runway is grooved. When thrust reverses are applied; where does that water in the grooves go? It is sent forward of the landing gear by the reverse thrust. This policy is an accident waiting to happen. Our Station Manager has basically agreed to the policy. Two operations agents were reprimanded for showing the runways wet after Airport Operations said they were dry. Cause; Lack of Safety concern on the part of DCA Airport Operations.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.