Marine One Pilots Address Communication Issues Amidst Air Traffic Controllers and Helicóp터
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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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USA TodayThe report said concerns about communications had surfaced days before the incident. On July 30, Marine One personnel and air traffic control staff met after controllers reported not consistently receiving the required three-minute warning before helicopter departures.
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.
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.
New York PostControllers reported not receiving the standard three-minute warning call ahead of Marine One flights and both sides agreed to an alternative in those instances — but that plan to relay the radio call through someone else was also unsuccessful on the day of the Aug. 4 incident near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report shows.
ReutersMarine One helicopter crew failed to reach air traffic control before safety incident, report says - Reuters Marine One helicopter crew failed to reach air traffic control before safety incident, report says Reuters
The HillNTSB: Temporary Ellipse site factored into Marine One incident The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a preliminary report Thursday blaming the location of a temporary Ellipse site for an incident in early August where President Trump’s Marine One (VM1) helicopter came within a mile of a passenger jet. The report stated that VM1 attempted to contact air traffic controllers twice at Reagan Washington…
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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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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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Associated PressThe 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.
USA TodayThe incident occurred in airspace that has faced increased scrutiny since the fatal midair collision between an American Airlines regional jet and an Army helicopter near Reagan National Airport in January 2025. Following that crash, the FAA implemented permanent restrictions on helicopter operations around the airport.
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The 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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USA TodayFAA made changes after close call incident The communication issues surfaced after Marine One flights were moved from the White House South Lawn to the Ellipse in May as work on the helipad continued, according to Reuters.
Fox NewsFAA 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.
5 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 New York Post The NTSB said preliminary estimates show the helicopter and plane were just over 0.8 mile (1.3 kilometers) apart laterally and about 700 feet (215 meters) apart vertically at their closest. The crew of the Envoy Air flight told investigators they received a traffic warning from their collision avoidance system right after they took off, but they never saw the helicopter.
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02 USA Today The incident occurred as Envoy Air flight 3742, an Embraer E-170 headed to Pensacola, Florida, departed Reagan National Airport. Both aircraft continued their flights without incident, and no injuries were reported.
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03 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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04 Washington Examiner Though the incident resulted in no collision, it was reminiscent of the fatal crash involving a military helicopter and a passenger jet at DCA in January 2025.
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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 (8)
- nypost
- ap
- nyt
- foxnews
- thehill
- usatoday
- washexaminer
- reuters