Marine One Failed to Establish Contact with Air Traffic Control Before Near-Miss Incident, Investigation Reveals

The crew of the military helicopter transporting U.S. President Donald Trump, who experienced a close encounter with a commercial aircraft on August 4, did not communicate with air traffic controllers prior to departure, according to findings released Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The incident, involving a passenger jet departing from Reagan National Airport, has prompted scrutiny over the decision to allow the commercial flight to depart while Marine One was operating nearby, during a period when normal procedures typically suspend commercial air traffic.

This event follows communication challenges that arose after Marine One helicopter operations were relocated from the White House South Lawn in May to the adjacent Ellipse, with service yet to fully resume as ongoing construction work on a dedicated helipad continues.

According to the NTSB, the Marine One crew made at least two attempts to provide the mandatory three-minute advance notice of departure but encountered technical communication difficulties. The board also reported that efforts to coordinate via the helicopter facility at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling proved unsuccessful.

Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Bryan Bedford announced on Tuesday that his agency had reconfigured an antenna and revised operational procedures following the incident. Subsequent testing by the FAA revealed no further communication disruptions.

In a meeting held on July 30 between Marine One personnel and air traffic control, controllers raised concerns regarding repeated failures by the presidential helicopter crew to deliver the required three-minute pre-departure call, as noted by the NTSB.

Marine One’s crew acknowledged to investigators that communications had been inconsistent, leading to an agreement to implement alternative communication methods when direct contact with the tower could not be established.

FAA regulations mandate that aircraft maintain a minimum separation of 1.5 miles laterally and 500 feet vertically near airports. However, the NTSB determined that during the incident, Marine One and the commercial aircraft came within 0.82 nautical miles (approximately 0.94 statute miles) horizontally and 700 feet vertically.

The nearby aircraft, Envoy Air Flight 3742—a regional jet operated by an Embraer EMB-170 bound for Pensacola, Florida—was not the only flight affected. Republic Airline Flight 4700 was rerouted as a precautionary measure when it came within 3 miles of Reagan National Airport during the incident.

In response to increasing safety concerns in theNational Airspace System, the FAA implemented permanent restrictions on helicopter movements around Washington’s Reagan Airport in the aftermath of a midair collision in January 2025 involving a regional jet operated by American Airlines and a U.S. Army helicopter.

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