Investigators are looking into why a commercial jet was allowed to take off as President Donald Trump’s helicopter was approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Tuesday afternoon, in an apparent violation of safety procedures put in place after last year’s midair collision near the busy airport.

Incident Details

Both the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration said they were investigating what happened when a commercial jet took off just as Marine One left the White House for Andrews Air Force Base with the president aboard for the first leg of a West Coast trip.

The FAA decided after 67 people died on January 29, 2025, when an airliner collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter, that all takeoffs and landings at the Washington, D.C., airport would be halted anytime a helicopter passes by on a conflicting route.

The airplane that took off Tuesday was climbing above Marine One as the helicopter approached, so the two aircraft were not on a collision course.

The FAA said in a statement that a preliminary investigation showed ‘there was a momentary loss of separation after which the aircraft continued to move away from one another.’ The air traffic controller was in contact with both the commercial pilot and Marine One pilot during the loss of separation.

The White House emphasized that Trump was never in danger. ‘Marine One flights are piloted by some of the best aviators in the world, and at no point was the President in harm’s way,’ White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement.

Original reporting: Texarkana Gazette — read the source article.