Short Final: Hold Short

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • A pilot flying a single-engine Comanche landed at Dulles Airport and was directed to taxi to Jet Aviation.
  • Dulles Ground control humorously referred to the small aircraft as "a little one" when instructing a larger Delta flight to hold short for it.
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I was flying into Dulles a couple of years ago with my single-engine Comanche. Traffic was landing to the north and I touched down and exited in the first third of the 12,000-foot runway. I contacted Ground and was asked where I was parking.

N5109P: “Jet Aviation at Zulu 2.”

Dulles Ground: “N5109P turn left on Zulu. Taxi Zulu, Zulu 2 to Jet Aviation.”

I acknowledged, taxied forward, and turned left on Zulu. A moment later:

Dulles Ground: “Delta 123, taxi to Runway 30 via Yankee, Yankee 11, hold short of Zulu. I’ve got a little one coming north.”

Evan Smith
Mechanicsville, Virginia

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