The National Transportation Safety Board released a seven‑page preliminary report on Thursday detailing a communications failure that occurred as President Trump’s Marine One lifted off from a temporary pad on the Ellipse, just south of the White House. The incident happened earlier this month when an American Airlines regional jet came within the protective bubble surrounding the presidential helicopter.
What went wrong
According to the NTSB, Marine One attempted to contact the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport control tower twice. The first transmission was not received at all, and the second was “broken and completely unreadable.” Investigators also noted that the radio transmitter/receiver sight at the temporary landing site did not have adequate line‑of‑sight to ensure reliable communications, a condition exacerbated by construction activity at the White House.
FAA response
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that the air‑traffic control frequency was operating normally and that there were no known outages on the day of the incident. FAA technicians from Spectrum Engineering performed a coverage analysis that supported the NTSB’s finding about line‑of‑sight limitations.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told reporters that the issue stemmed from a telecommunications problem between the Marine One team and the FAA. “We’ve found at a staff level there had been some telecom issues,” Duffy said, adding that the agencies are working together to resolve the problem and improve coordination for future lift‑off notifications.
Safety measures moving forward
The FAA has convened a safety review panel and plans to enhance three‑minute lift‑notification procedures and boost signal frequencies. The agency also met with the White House Military Office’s helicopter unit to discuss the findings.
While the FAA reiterated that President Trump was never in danger, the incident underscores the importance of reliable communications for presidential air travel, especially when construction or other temporary conditions affect the operating environment.
Ongoing investigation
The NTSB investigation remains ongoing, and additional findings may be released as the board continues its review of the incident.
Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.
