Donald Trump’s Marine One helicopter and a nearby commercial passenger jet briefly fell into a loss of standard separation near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, according to air traffic control recordings and the White House press corps.[1][8]
Marine One lifted off from the Ellipse, the White House’s South Lawn helicopter area, at about 2:33 p.m. to 2:34 p.m. local time on Tuesday, after the pilot told a Reagan National air traffic controller three minutes earlier that takeoff was imminent.[1][8] Under standard procedure, commercial flights are supposed to be held on the ground during that window to prevent conflicts, but an Envoy Air flight still took off from Reagan at 2:34 p.m.[1][8]
The FAA said the aircraft did not come dangerously close under federal standards and were not on converging flight paths, so the incident did not rise to the level of a serious near miss.[1][8] The separation rule requires aircraft to stay 1.5 miles apart horizontally and 500 feet apart vertically.[1]
Trump continued safely aboard Marine One to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where he transferred to Air Force One and flew on to Los Angeles, while the passenger jet reached its destination in Florida without incident.[1]
The FAA is investigating why the Reagan National controller did not properly respond after Marine One’s pilot gave three takeoff notices, according to reports cited by the White House press corps.[1][8]
