FAA Reviews Marine One Close Call With Trump Aboard
Aviation officials say commercial traffic at Reagan National was not halted as required when the presidential helicopter lifted off Tuesday, leading to a "momentary loss of separation."
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are reviewing an air traffic safety incident involving Marine One that occurred this week while President Donald Trump was on board, officials said Wednesday.
The incident happened around 2:30 p.m. ET Tuesday as the presidential helicopter lifted off from the Ellipse near the White House and headed to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, the first leg of the president's trip to the West Coast, according to an FAA statement.
As the military helicopter took off, commercial air traffic at nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport was not halted as required by safety protocols, officials said. Standard procedure requires air traffic controllers to pause all other traffic three minutes before Marine One is set to depart.
According to an air traffic communication recording provided by ATC.com, Marine One gave controllers the required three-minute notice, but a controller did not hear the transmission because someone else was speaking on the frequency at the same time.
The FAA said preliminary information showed the lapse resulted in what the agency called a "momentary loss of separation" between Marine One and an American Airlines regional carrier flight taking off from the airport. FAA rules require commercial aircraft to maintain at least 1.5 miles of horizontal separation and 500 feet of vertical separation from any helicopter passing near the airport.
At no time did the regional flight get dangerously close to Marine One, according to the FAA.
"Based on our preliminary safety review, there was momentary loss of separation after which the aircraft continued to move away from one another," the FAA statement said. "The air traffic controller was in contact with both the commercial pilot and Marine One pilot during the loss of separation."
The agency said it is continuing to review the incident and "will implement any appropriate corrective actions based on our findings."
The White House said in a statement Wednesday: "Marine One flights are piloted by some of the best aviators in the world, and at no point was the President in harm's way."
The Wall Street Journal first reported the incident Tuesday night.
This article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), in accordance with our editorial policy.
