DTW McNamara Parking Structure 7/13/13
Yesterday was one of my planned "all-day" spotting trips to Detroit Metro Airport. Because it is a 2 hour drive for me, I always plan to go all day in order for it to be worth my time. Yesterday, the wind was blowing out of the northeast so the 3s and 4s were active. After a very successful morning spotting arrivals on runways 3R and 4L, including 2 Delta A330-300s, a Delta 747-400, a Skyteam livery Delta 737-800, and the Breast Cancer Awareness Delta 767-400ER. After lunch, I met up with some friends on top of the McNamara parking structure to watch aircraft departing runway 3L. Because the other departure runway, runway 4R/22L, is currently closed, every plane uses 3L/21R with the exception of some heavy jets that need a longer runway.
We were up there for a long time, having had numerous police pass us by without saying a word- one even stopped and watched with us! There were also many others up there watching to- which is uncommon. It was getting to be early evening- we had already seen many aircraft depart, including the Spirit A320 with sharklets and a Lufthansa A340, when a cop pulled up behind where we were standing. He got out and asked to see our IDs (I was with one other guy at this point- everyone else had left). At this point, it seemed pretty routine. I've had cops ID me before and they would always give me back my ID and let me carry on. But I guess this cop was having a bad day. He proceeded to lecture us on how "taking pictures of airplanes is illegal after 9/11" and so forth. Because we had already had a great day of spotting, this is a battle we chose not to fight. We waited until the officer left, shot one more departure, and left. This officer was very rude, even we tried to be friendly with him. Whatever, I know we'll be back up there again soon.
