Marine One Helicopter Pilots Face Communication Challenges Amid Presidential Transport Hel
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The pilots of Marine One tried to resolve communication issues in a meeting with air traffic controllers from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport five days before the presidential transport helicopter departed at the same time as a passenger jet, according to a preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday.
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Associated PressA recording posted by ATC.com showed the Marine One pilot telling the tower that the helicopter was “three minutes to life” just like the 2013 agreement between the FAA and the military calls for. But the air traffic controller said that transmission appeared broken and unreadable on his end, so the controller seemed surprised a few minutes later when the helicopter took off.
New York PostAfter the controller warned the helicopter about the plane taking off, the Marine One pilot said he saw the traffic and declared, “We’ll be doing a momentary delay.”
Fox NewsMarine One’s crew made repeated but unsuccessful attempts to notify Reagan National Airport that President Donald Trump’s helicopter was preparing to depart on Aug. 4 before it flew near a commercial passenger jet, according to a preliminary federal report released Thursday.
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On Aug. 4, Marine One took off from the Ellipse park near the White House around the same time as an Envoy Air flight departed from DCA. President Donald Trump was aboard the helicopter at the time.
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Fox NewsInstead, Envoy Air Flight 3742, an Embraer E-170 bound for Pensacola, Florida, was cleared to take off from Runway 1 as Trump departed the White House aboard Marine One for a planned trip to Los Angeles.
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Having both in the air at the same time seemed to violate safety procedures put in place after last year’s midair collision near the busy airport that killed 67 people, but officials stressed the president was never in danger. The Pentagon also has a longstanding agreement with the FAA to provide controllers with a three-minute warning before the president’s helicopter takes off that predates last year’s crash.
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New York PostHaving both the jet and helicopter in the air at the same time seemed to violate safety procedures put in place after last year’s midair collision near the busy airport that killed 67 people, but officials stressed that the president was never in danger. The Pentagon also has a longstanding agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration to provide controllers with a three-minute warning before the president’s helicopter takes off that predates last year’s crash.
Washington ExaminerThe mandatory three-minute warning, which is part of an agreement between the Pentagon and the Federal Aviation Administration, predated last year’s mid-air collision. The FAA later took steps to halt commercial flights anytime a helicopter passes near DCA on a conflicting route.
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FAA technicians later determined there was not adequate line-of-sight coverage between the radio transmitter-receiver site and the Ellipse, where Marine One was temporarily operating during construction at the White House.
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New York PostThe NTSB said that after this incident involving Marine One, FAA technicians determined that there wasn’t adequate line of sight between the radio receiver at the airport and the location where the helicopter takes off at the White House. So those radios were moved from the neighborhood where they had been located to the top of the tower at Reagan. Subsequent tests showed the radios working well after that change.
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Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 Washington Examiner The Marine One pilots confirmed DCA controllers’ concerns that radio communication “had been spotty” in their July 30 meeting. Both sides agreed to an alternative contact method in case the initial attempt failed. Both methods were unsuccessful in the aviation incident.
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02 Fox News The missed warning meant Reagan National controllers did not receive notice that would have required them to stop departures before the presidential helicopter lifted off.
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03 New York Post The FAA decided after an airliner collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Jan. 29, 2025, that all takeoffs and landings at the airport would be halted anytime a helicopter passes by on a conflicting route. The airspace near the White House and Reagan is heavily congested with military and commercial aircraft.
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04 Associated Press The FAA decided after an airliner collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Jan. 29, 2025, that all takeoffs and landings at the airport would be halted anytime a helicopter passes by on a conflicting route. The airspace near the White House and Reagan is heavily congested with military and commercial aircraft.
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05 New York Times White House Construction May Have Contributed to Close Call With Trump’s Helicopter A controller let a jet take off after missing warnings that Marine One was about to fly through the area, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
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Sources (5)
- nyt
- nypost
- ap
- foxnews
- washexaminer