White House construction may have contributed to Marine One close call

Construction of a new White House ballroom may have contributed to a loss-of-separation incident involving President Donald Trump’s Marine One helicopter and an Envoy Air passenger jet near Washington Reagan National Airport on 4 August, according to a preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report.

The building work required Marine One operations to move temporarily from the White House South Lawn to the Ellipse. Technical analysis subsequently found inadequate line-of-sight radio coverage between the temporary departure point and the airport control tower while construction was under way.

According to the NTSB, garbled communications prevented a controller from hearing several warnings that Marine One was preparing to depart. Such notification should have prompted controllers to suspend other traffic while the presidential helicopter crossed the area.

Instead, an Envoy Air aircraft was cleared for take-off to Pensacola shortly before Marine One departed. The two aircraft passed less than one mile apart, although officials said their flight paths were not expected to converge and President Trump was never in immediate danger.

The Federal Aviation Administration responded by revising communication procedures and relocating an antenna. However, controllers reportedly experienced further difficulty hearing Marine One before another departure from the Ellipse on 27 August. Nearby helicopters relayed the advance warning, direct radio contact was subsequently established and other traffic was halted before the uneventful departure.

The incident has renewed scrutiny of aviation safety around Reagan National following the January 2025 collision between an American Eagle regional jet and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter, which killed 67 people.

After that accident, the FAA restricted helicopter operations near the airport, allowing only essential government aircraft such as Marine One to use certain routes while fixed-wing traffic is stopped. It also ended reliance on visual separation between aircraft in the area.

The NTSB stressed that its findings concerning the latest incident remain preliminary. Its investigation into the probable cause and contributing factors is continuing.