Trump's helicopter loses communication with air traffic control for second time in a month
The Marine One aircraft was about to take off in Washington D.C when it lost communication with air traffic controllers
Donald Trump's helicopter lost contact with air traffic control on Thursday despite reassurances the problem had been fixed following a similar incident earlier this month.
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The Marine One aircraft was about to take off in Washington D.C when it lost communication with air traffic controllers at Reagan National Airport.
As President Donald Trump was about to take off, Marine One's calls to controllers went unheard, forcing another pilot to intervene.
It happened just an hour after federal officials released a report saying the problem was fixed in response to a similar incident on August 4.
Earlier this month, Marine One flew within a mile of a commercial jet which affected communications with air traffic controllers.
A subsequent investigation found that "there was not adequate line-of-sight to ensure communications" from the lawn near the White House that the helicopter was using to take off.
The helicopter was using the lawn as a temporary landing zone due to building work taking place at the White House.
A first attempt to contact air traffic control was "not received at all".
This was followed by a second attempt that was "broken and completely unreadable."
Asked why Marine One and the control tower had not been able to reach each other, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said: "There's been a lot of infrastructure that's been built in Virginia and in the D.C. area.
"And so we have some interference with our antenna. And so we're working right now on fixing that communication."
"And so we already have a fix in place and that should not take place again."
On Tuesday, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, Bryan Bedford, said the agency relocated an antenna and changed a procedure after the incident. The NTSB said checks made after the relocation have shown no communications issues.