FAA investigates air traffic incident involving Trump’s Marine One near Reagan National Airport

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has launched an investigation into an air traffic safety incident involving Marine One, the helicopter carrying President Donald Trump, near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).

According to the FAA, the incident occurred on 5 August after Marine One departed the White House en route to Joint Base Andrews for the President’s trip to Los Angeles.

“The FAA is investigating a safety incident involving Marine One, but it didn’t appear to be a dangerous close call and the aircraft weren’t apparently converging,” the agency said.

According to Reuters, commercial air traffic at Reagan National was not halted before Marine One departed, despite procedures introduced following the fatal January 2025 mid-air collision between an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, which claimed 67 lives.

One aircraft involved was Envoy Air flight 3742, an Embraer E170 operating for American Airlines from Washington to Pensacola. The regional jet departed shortly after Marine One lifted off and was reportedly involved in an apparent loss of the required separation from the presidential helicopter. Both aircraft continued safely without incident.

A second aircraft, Republic Airways flight 4700, an Embraer 175 arriving from Raleigh-Durham on behalf of American Airlines, was instructed to perform a go-around as a precaution before landing safely a short time later.

FAA regulations normally require aircraft operating near airports to maintain at least 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of horizontal separation and 500 feet of vertical separation. Sources cited by Reuters said the required separation may not have been maintained, although the aircraft were not believed to have been on converging flight paths.

The FAA is expected to convene a Safety Review Team to examine the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Following the January 2025 accident, the FAA introduced permanent restrictions on helicopter operations around Reagan National, including prohibiting simultaneous helicopter and commercial jet operations in the airport’s immediate vicinity. When Marine One operates near the airport, commercial departures and arrivals are normally suspended until the presidential helicopter has cleared the area.

The incident comes as the FAA continues implementing additional safety measures around Washington’s highly congested airspace following recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).