Marine One Crew's Communication Attempts Failed Before Near Miss with Passenger Jet

<p>The crew of Marine One made repeated attempts to notify Reagan National Airport that President Donald Trump’s helicopter was preparing to depart on August 4, but these attempts were unsuccessful, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released on Thursday.</p><p>The report indicated that the crew's first call to the helicopter-control frequency at Reagan National was not received. A second transmission was described as "broken and completely unreadable." After failing to reach the tower, the Marine One crew attempted to relay the required three-minute notification through the helicopter facility at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, but this effort also did not succeed.</p><p>The lack of communication meant that controllers at Reagan National did not receive the necessary notice to halt departures before the presidential helicopter took off. Consequently, Envoy Air Flight 3742, an Embraer E-170 bound for Pensacola, Florida, was cleared for takeoff from Runway 1 as Marine One departed the White House for a trip to Los Angeles.</p><p>According to the NTSB, the passenger jet was in its initial climb when Marine One departed from the Ellipse, located about two miles north of the airport. The FAA's preliminary estimate indicated that the two aircraft came within approximately 0.82 nautical miles laterally and about 700 feet vertically. No injuries or damage were reported, and both flights continued without further incident.</p><p>The Envoy flight crew reported that the jet’s traffic-collision system announced, "Traffic, Traffic," as the aircraft climbed after takeoff. Although the pilots did not visually spot Marine One, the helicopter appeared on their cockpit display as being to the right and below their aircraft. The system did not issue a resolution advisory, which would have instructed the pilots to climb or descend to avoid another aircraft, according to the NTSB report.</p><p>Marine One was eventually able to contact the tower after climbing high enough to establish reliable communications. Controllers then issued a traffic advisory, and the helicopter crew reported having the Envoy jet in sight.</p><p>The report also noted that concerns about communication had been raised just days prior. On July 30, Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1) met with Reagan National tower staff to discuss operations in the area. During this meeting, HMX-1 informed controllers that communications had been "spotty." Controllers also expressed concerns that HMX-1 crews had not consistently provided the required three-minute warning before takeoff. Both parties agreed that helicopter crews would use backup methods to reach the tower, including relaying notifications through another aircraft if direct communication failed.</p><p>On August 4, Marine One’s crew attempted to use this backup method, but the message still did not get through. FAA technicians later determined that there was inadequate line-of-sight coverage between the radio transmitter-receiver site and the Ellipse, where Marine One was operating during construction at the White House. The FAA subsequently relocated the radios used for the airport’s helicopter-control frequency from a nearby residential area to the top of Reagan National’s control tower.</p><p>Following this relocation, the FAA conducted radio checks with two HMX-1 aircraft operating near the Ellipse and reported no deficiencies. The FAA and NTSB began reviewing the incident earlier this month, characterizing it as a "momentary loss of separation." The FAA stated, "Based on our preliminary safety review, there was momentary loss of separation, after which the aircraft continued to move away from one another." The air traffic controller was in contact with both the commercial pilot and the Marine One pilot during this period.</p><p>While the aircraft were estimated to be less than 1.5 nautical miles apart horizontally, the NTSB noted that the preliminary estimate of 700 feet of vertical separation met the applicable FAA standard. In the relevant Class B airspace, the standard requires either 1.5 nautical miles of lateral separation or 500 feet of vertical separation.</p><p>The NTSB is continuing to review surveillance data to determine the closest point between the two aircraft. The White House has stated that Trump was never in danger, with White House spokesman Kush Desai asserting, "Marine One flights are piloted by some of the best aviators in the world, and at no point was the president in harm’s way."</p><p>The NTSB indicated that its preliminary report is intended to present factual information developed to date and does not include analysis, conclusions, or findings related to probable cause. The investigation remains ongoing, and any safety recommendations will be publicly announced, with further findings released through the agency's public docket and final report process.</p>