White House construction played a role in a radio failure that brought Donald Trump’s Marine One helicopter and an Envoy Air passenger jet too close to each other near Reagan on August 4, investigators said Thursday. The NTSB said they came within just over 0.8 mile horizontally and 700 feet vertically. Air traffic controllers did not hear Marine One’s three-minute warning before takeoff, so they cleared the airline plane to depart.
Trump was never in danger, officials said.
They agreed to use another person to pass the message along if the radio problem returned. ATC.com posted a recording showing the Marine One pilot make the required call: “three minutes to lift. The official tower recording did not contain the warning. The controller sounded surprised. The FAA had required airport takeoffs and landings to stop when a helicopter passes along a conflicting route.
That backup also failed on August 4. The incident raised concerns after a January 29, 2025, collision between an airliner and an Army Black Hawk near Reagan that killed 67 people.
The NTSB’s preliminary report says controllers and Marine One pilots had discussed missed warning calls a week before the incident.
The Envoy crew received a warning from its collision-avoidance system but did not see Marine One. Marine One’s pilots saw the airplane and paused until the jet moved away. The NTSB said the aircraft reached their closest point at just over 0.8 mile apart horizontally and about 700 feet vertically.
Because controllers did not hear Marine One’s warning, the Envoy Air jet was allowed to take off as the helicopter was also preparing to leave. Because they never received the warning, guzzetti said controllers should not be blamed.
They then warned the helicopter and told another aircraft to abort its landing and circle.
