The continuing White Home building contributed to radio issues that saved air site visitors controllers from listening to calls warning that President Donald Trump’s helicopter was on the point of take off, so that they cleared an airline jet to take off simply as Marine One took to the air earlier this month, federal investigators mentioned Thursday.
The week earlier than the president’s helicopter obtained too near that Envoy Air jet close to Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport, air site visitors controllers and Marine One pilots met to debate controllers not receiving the usual three-minute warning name forward of Marine One flights, based on a preliminary report from the Nationwide Transportation Security Board. They made plans to relay radio calls via another person if there have been future issues however that was additionally unsuccessful on the day of the Aug. 4 incident.
Technicians found after the truth that the explanation Marine One was having hassle speaking to the tower at instances was as a result of the helicopter shifted to a brand new location in the course of the White Home building. So the Federal Aviation Administration moved the radio receiver out of a neighborhood close to the airport and to the highest of the tower at Reagan to repair the issue.
“Regardless that they have been conscious of some earlier communications points, they by no means obtained on the root trigger,” aviation security knowledgeable Jeff Guzzetti mentioned.
The FAA mentioned in a press release that it took quick motion after the incident by transferring that antenna “to enhance communications” between the airport and Marine One pilots.
The White Home did not instantly reply to the preliminary report, though the continuing NTSB investigation does restrict what it could actually say concerning the incident.
Having each the jet and helicopter within the air on the identical time additionally appeared to violate security procedures put in place after final yr’s midair collision close to the busy airport that killed 67 individuals, however officers pressured that the president was by no means in peril. The Pentagon additionally has a longstanding settlement with the Federal Aviation Administration to offer controllers with a three-minute warning earlier than the president’s helicopter takes off that predates final yr’s crash.
The NTSB mentioned recordings from the tower confirmed that the controllers by no means heard the calls from Marine One’s pilot that day warning that the helicopter was on the point of take off, however separate recordings posted by ATC.com present the helicopter did make these calls.
The helicopter pilots tried to relay their three-minute name via the helicopter facility at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, however that was additionally unsuccessful.
The FAA determined after an airliner collided with an Military Black Hawk helicopter on Jan. 29, 2025, that every one takeoffs and landings on the airport can be halted anytime a helicopter passes by on a conflicting route. The airspace close to the White Home and Reagan is closely congested with army and business plane.
The FAA has acknowledged that the helicopter and airliner briefly obtained too shut earlier than the 2 plane began to maneuver away from one another. The airplane rapidly climbed above the helicopter after Marine One’s pilots noticed the airplane and paused till it safely left the realm.
The NTSB mentioned preliminary estimates present the helicopter and airplane have been simply over 0.8 mile (1.3 kilometers) aside laterally and about 700 toes (215 meters) aside vertically at their closest. The crew of the Envoy Air flight informed investigators they obtained a site visitors warning from their collision avoidance system proper after they took off, however they by no means noticed the helicopter.
The official FAA recordings from the tower at Reagan didn’t embrace the warnings that Marine One was on the point of head to Andrews Air Power Base with the president aboard that day.
A recording posted by ATC.com confirmed the Marine One pilot telling the tower that the helicopter was “three minutes to elevate” similar to the 2013 settlement between the FAA and the army requires. However the controller appeared shocked a couple of minutes later when the helicopter took off.
“Uh, Marine One, you mentioned, uh, you are continuing as briefed?” the controller requested earlier than giving the helicopter instructions and commenting, “OK, no three minutes, roger, proceed as briefed.”
After the controller warned the helicopter concerning the airplane taking off, the Marine One pilot mentioned he noticed the site visitors and declared, “We’ll be doing a momentary delay.”
Guzzetti, who’s a former crash investigator for each the NTSB and FAA, mentioned he would not fault the controllers as a result of they by no means heard Marine One’s warnings. And as soon as they did notice the helicopter was taking off, they rapidly warned the pilots and ordered one other airplane coming in to Reagan to abort touchdown and circle round.
“On this case, the controller did completely nothing unsuitable. He didn’t obtain the transmission saying that they have been three minutes away from taking off. So he had no cause to carry the airplane that was lining up and ready,” Guzzetti mentioned.
After final yr’s midair collision, it turned clear that poor communication between air site visitors controllers and the army had been a longstanding difficulty. Throughout a congressional listening to, it got here out {that a} hotline connecting the Pentagon to the tower at Reagan hadn’t been working for greater than three years, and the FAA hadn’t even realized it.
The NTSB mentioned that after this incident involving Marine One, FAA technicians decided that there wasn’t satisfactory line of sight between the radio receiver on the airport and the situation the place the helicopter takes off on the White Home. So these radios have been moved from the neighborhood the place they’d been situated to the highest of the tower at Reagan. Subsequent assessments confirmed the radios working nicely after that change.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
