Narrative:

Entered the dca river visual runway 19 at 3;000 feet and 10 NM out. I added spoilers periodically to slow for flap adjustments and aid the descent. The aircraft was fully configured at 2;000 feet and we maneuvered down the river crossing all the visual check points at the recommended altitudes on the jepp chart. In the last turn down the river I could not make out the runway and asked the first officer (first officer) if he saw it. He couldn't make it out either. I then asked him to call the tower to brighten the lights on runway 19; but we were still on potomac approach; who quickly switched us to dca tower. At the last visual check point I turned southbound toward where I thought runway 19 should have been according to the jepp plate but we were looking at a 'black hole' at about 500 feet. In all the confusion we got a spoiler caution light as we neared 300 feet. Just then; the first officer and I finally saw the two bar VASI for runway 19; but we were at too great an angle to make a safe landing. Combined with the spoiler warning a second earlier; the angle of bank that would be needed to complete the landing; and a firm insistence from the first officer; I went around. The first officer quickly cleaned up the aircraft; called ATC for a go-around and we made our way to 3;000 feet and set up for another approach. Though the runway was still not visible; we at least knew where to aim the aircraft the second time around; and made a safe; stable landing. I have completed at least 3 dozen dca 'river visuals' as a captain on the Q400 while working here and a few as a first officer at a previous carrier on the crj 200 but never before at night; the lighting on runway 19 is terrible and wattage needs to be increased. Perhaps a curved lead-in light system such as the one used on runway 13 left/right [at jfk] would be helpful. Perhaps training for the 19 river visual in night VMC conditions in our simulators during initial training and/or lofts would be more helpful.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CRJ-900 flight crew flying the River Visual Approach to Runway 19 at DCA at night was unable to pick up the runway environment in a timely fashion and executed a go-around. A subsequent approach was successful. Inadequate runway light intensity was cited as a contributing factor.

Narrative: Entered the DCA River Visual Runway 19 at 3;000 feet and 10 NM out. I Added spoilers periodically to slow for flap adjustments and aid the descent. The Aircraft was fully configured at 2;000 feet and we maneuvered down the river crossing all the visual check points at the recommended altitudes on the Jepp Chart. In the last turn down the river I could not make out the runway and asked the First Officer (FO) if he saw it. He couldn't make it out either. I then asked him to call the Tower to brighten the lights on Runway 19; but we were still on Potomac Approach; who quickly switched us to DCA Tower. At the last visual check point I turned southbound toward where I thought Runway 19 should have been according to the Jepp Plate but we were looking at a 'black hole' at about 500 feet. In all the confusion we got a spoiler caution light as we neared 300 feet. Just then; the FO and I finally saw the two bar VASI for Runway 19; but we were at too great an angle to make a safe landing. Combined with the spoiler warning a second earlier; the angle of bank that would be needed to complete the landing; and a firm insistence from the FO; I went around. The FO quickly cleaned up the aircraft; called ATC for a go-around and we made our way to 3;000 feet and set up for another approach. Though the runway was still not visible; we at least knew where to aim the aircraft the second time around; and made a safe; stable landing. I have completed at least 3 dozen DCA 'River Visuals' as a Captain on the Q400 while working here and a few as a First Officer at a previous carrier on the CRJ 200 but never before at night; the lighting on Runway 19 is terrible and wattage needs to be increased. Perhaps a curved lead-in light system such as the one used on Runway 13 L/R [at JFK] would be helpful. Perhaps training for the 19 River Visual in night VMC conditions in our simulators during initial training and/or LOFTS would be more helpful.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.