Donald Trump's helicopter Marine One came 'too close' to passenger jet after take-off from White House lawn
Trump's Marine One helicopter took off from the White House at around 2.33pm on Tuesday.
A military helicopter carrying Donald Trump briefly flew too close to a passenger jet as it left Reagan Washington National Airport, the US’ aviation watchdog has said.
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The US president was not in danger as the passenger airplane departed with Marine One nearby, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
"Based on our preliminary safety review, there was momentary loss of separation after which the aircraft continued to move away from one another," the watchdog said on Wednesday.
Trump's Marine One helicopter reportedly took off from the White House at around 2.33pm on Tuesday.
Envoy Air 3742, a regional E170 jet bound for Pensacola, Florida, left at 2:34 p.m. and was involved in the incident with Marine One, sources told Reuters.
Questions have been raised after air-traffic controllers reportedly failed to halt commercial flights at Reagan National, despite a policy last year following the collision of an American Airlines regional passenger jet and a US Army Black Hawk.
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FAA rules say aircraft must remain separated by at least 1.5 miles horizontally and 500 feet vertically around airports.
The FFA added: "The air traffic controller was in contact with both the commercial pilot and Marine One pilot during the loss of separation."Both Trump's helicopter and the jet landed without incident.The FAA is planning to convene a safety review team into the incident, sources say.
Another regional flight, Republic 4700, was 3 miles (5 km) from Reagan during the incident and was rerouted out of caution, another source said.
The Republic Embraer 175 operating on behalf of American had departed from Raleigh-Durham and looped around the airport before landing at 2:52 p.m., according to FlightAware.
The chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, Jennifer Homendy, told Reuters on Wednesday the agency is considering opening an investigation.
We're in the process of collecting additional information.Our air traffic control specialists are reviewing theinformation they already have and information they're going tocollect to determine whether we investigate," Homendy said.
The FAA imposed permanent restrictions on helicopter operations around Washington's Reagan Airport after the January 2025 mid-air collision between an American Airlines regional jet and an Army helicopter.In addition to traffic restrictions, the FAA in March also barred the use of visual separation to handle helicopter traffic near major airports.
FAA air traffic control is typically given at least three minutes' notice before Marine One departs to halt traffic from Reagan.