The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating U.S. President Donald Trump’s military helicopter, Marine One, after it momentarily flew too close to a passenger jet departing from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). Air traffic controllers didn’t pause commercial departures at Reagan National, as required by a policy implemented after a crash last year.
What happened?
President Trump’s Marine One departed from the Ellipse near the White House at around 2:33 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Aug. 4. It was on its way to Joint Base Andrews before a presidential trip to Los Angeles, California, according to a White House report.
The passenger jet involved in this incident was Envoy Air flight 3742, a regional jet operated on behalf of American Airlines that was departing from DCA.
A second flight departing from DCA, Republic 4700, was rerouted as a safety precaution after coming within three miles of the airport.
FAA statement and investigations
In a statement, the FAA said that its initial safety review of the incident found
“A momentary loss of separation, after which the aircraft continued to move away from one another.”
It further added that President Trump wasn’t in danger, and that an air traffic controller stayed in contact with both pilots throughout the brief incident.
The NTSB said it will launch its own investigation into the incident.
Background on the policy
This incident comes after a crash in January 2025, in which a military helicopter landing at DCA and an American Airlines regional jet crashed into each other midair and killed 67 people.
The crash led to a permanent restriction on mixed helicopter and commercial traffic at DCA.
In March, an additional ban was implemented on the use of visual-only separation for helicopters near major U.S. airports.
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