Politics
Marine One, the helicopter that ferries the president, came within less than a mile of an Envoy Air flight on Tuesday, raising new concerns about air traffic control in the congested area.
Marine One, right, carrying President Trump, flying to Joint Base Andrews on Tuesday. Doug Mills/The New York Times
August 5, 2026 | 7:51 PM
2 minutes to read
A military helicopter carrying President Donald Trump came within less than a mile of a passenger jet above Washington on Tuesday after garbled communications between his crew and air traffic controllers in Ronald Reagan National Airport’s tower delayed the controllers from clearing nearby air traffic, according to two people familiar with federal officials’ initial assessment.
The incident occurred shortly after 2:30 p.m. as Trump was flying to Joint Base Andrews from the White House on the initial leg of a planned trip to Los Angeles.
Before taking off, the crew of Marine One — the call sign of the helicopter that carries the president — made three attempts to warn controllers in the National Airport tower that they were three minutes away from taking off, according to audio recordings posted on ATC.com.
The communications appeared not to have been heard by the controller, and the helicopter advanced. That put it in the flight path of an Envoy Air passenger jet, a haunting situation after a tragic collision between a military helicopter and a passenger jet in the Washington airspace last year.
At their closest proximity, Marine One came within 0.8 miles of lateral distance and 700 feet of vertical distance from the passenger jet, according to the two people with knowledge of the Federal Aviation Administration’s preliminary findings.
A loss of safe separation — the distance between two aircraft that is needed to reduce the likelihood of a collision — is defined by the FAA in a case like this as breaching either 1.5 miles in lateral distance or 500 feet in vertical distance. But the parameters can vary depending on the airspace and the types of aircraft.
“Although the president was at no point in harm’s way during yesterday’s momentary loss of separation, the White House continues to work with relevant military, FAA and other security personnel to ensure the president’s continued safety,” said Kush Desai, a White House spokesperson.
Cassandra Nolan, a spokesperson for the FAA, said in a statement that, “based on our preliminary safety review,” there had been a “momentary loss of separation.” She added that the president was “never in danger,” but that a “review” continues.
A spokesperson for the Marine Corps, Capt. Jacob M. Sugg, called the flight “routine.” He did not respond to more detailed questions about the incident.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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