Trump Helicopter’s Near Miss with Jet: Communication Failures Uncovered

POLICY WIRE — Washington, USA — Federal investigators disclosed that air traffic controllers and the pilots of President Donald Trump’s helicopter convened to address communication problems a week prior to a jet being cleared for takeoff as Marine One departed from the White House.

Controllers had reported not receiving the customary three-minute warning call before Marine One flights. Both parties agreed on an alternative method to relay the radio call through another individual, but this too failed on the day of the August 4 incident near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report.

The simultaneous presence of both the jet and helicopter in the air appeared to breach safety protocols established following last year’s midair collision near the airport, which resulted in 67 fatalities. However, officials emphasized that the president was never at risk. The Pentagon has a long-standing agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration to provide controllers with a three-minute warning before the president’s helicopter takes off, a practice that predates last year’s crash.

The NTSB reported that tower recordings indicated controllers did not hear the calls from Marine One’s pilot warning of the helicopter’s imminent takeoff. However, separate recordings posted by ATC.com confirmed that the helicopter did indeed make those calls.

The helicopter pilots attempted to communicate their three-minute warning through the helicopter facility at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, but this attempt was also unsuccessful.

Following an airliner’s collision with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on January 29, 2025, the FAA mandated that all takeoffs and landings at the airport be halted whenever a helicopter passes by on a conflicting route. The airspace near the White House and Reagan Airport is densely populated with both military and commercial aircraft.

The FAA has recognized that the helicopter and airliner came dangerously close before moving away from each other. The airplane ascended above the helicopter after Marine One’s pilots spotted the plane and paused until it safely exited the area.

Preliminary estimates from the NTSB indicate that the helicopter and plane were approximately 0.8 mile (1.3 kilometers) apart laterally and about 700 feet (215 meters) apart vertically at their closest point. The crew of the Envoy Air flight informed investigators that they received a traffic warning from their collision avoidance system shortly after takeoff, but they never sighted the helicopter.

Official FAA recordings from the tower at Reagan did not capture the warnings that Marine One was preparing to head to Andrews Air Force Base with the president on board that day. However, a recording posted by ATC.com showed the Marine One pilot informing the tower that the helicopter was three minutes to life, in accordance with the 2013 agreement between the FAA and the military.

The controller seemed taken aback a few minutes later when the helicopter took off, asking, Uh, Marine One, you said, uh, you’re proceeding as briefed? before giving the helicopter directions and commenting, “OK, no three minutes, roger, proceed as briefed.”

After the controller alerted the helicopter about the plane taking off, the Marine One pilot reported seeing the traffic and declared, We’ll be doing a momentary delay.

The incident highlighted ongoing communication issues between air traffic controllers and the military. During a congressional hearing, it was revealed that a hotline connecting the Pentagon to the tower at Reagan had been non-functional for over three years, a fact the FAA was unaware of.

The NTSB stated that after this incident involving Marine One, FAA technicians concluded that there was insufficient line of sight between the radio receiver at the airport and the helicopter’s takeoff location at the White House. Consequently, the radios were relocated from their previous neighborhood location to the top of the tower at Reagan. Subsequent tests demonstrated that the radios functioned effectively after this adjustment.

Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)