NewzInvestigators say air traffic controllers in Washington and the pilots of President Donald Trump’s helicopter met to discuss communication issues one week before a jet and the chopper were allowed to take off at the same time Air traffic controllers in Washington and the pilots of President Donald Trump’s helicopter met to discuss communication issues one week before a jet and the chopper were allowed to take off at the same time, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.Both sides met to discuss the failures in communications and agreed to an alternative for such occasions — but that method was also unsuccessful on the day of the Aug. 4 incident at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary report shows.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.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.The FAA has acknowledged that the helicopter and airliner briefly got too close before the two aircraft started to move away from each other.
The airplane quickly climbed above the helicopter after Marine One’s pilots saw the plane and paused until it safely left the area.Tower audio suggests that the air traffic controller may not have realized that Trump’s helicopter was getting ready to head to Andrews Air Force Base with the president aboard that day until right as Marine One was taking off.A 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.“Uh, Marine One, you said, uh, you’re proceeding as briefed?” the controller asked before giving the helicopter directions and commenting, “OK, no three minutes, roger, proceed as briefed.”After the controller warned the helicopter a… Controllers 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. Having 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.
The NTSB said recordings from the tower showed that the controllers never heard the calls from Marine One’s pilot that day warning that the helicopter was getting ready to take off, but separate recordings posted by ATC.com show the helicopter did make those calls. The helicopter pilots tried to relay their three-minute call through the helicopter facility at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, but that was also unsuccessful. The FAA decided after an airliner collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Jan.
The FAA has acknowledged that the helicopter and airliner briefly got too close before the two aircraft started to move away from each other. 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…
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