Trump on board
Radio breakdown puts US presidential helicopter in delicate situation
Updated August 28, 2026 – 2:05 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
US President Donald Trump’s helicopter came unusually close to a passenger jet. Construction work on the White House may have played a role.
The construction work on the White House may have led to a radio breakdown during the departure of the US President Donald Trump contributed. The presidential helicopter “Marine One” and a passenger plane came into the same area of Washington airspace almost simultaneously on August 4th, according to a preliminary report from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
“Marine One” took off from Ellipse Park south of the White House. Almost at the same time, the nearby Ronald Reagan lifted Washington National Airport, an Embraer passenger jet operated by Envoy Air departed for Pensacola. According to preliminary calculations, both machines came within about 1.5 kilometers of each other and 210 meters in height. There was no collision and no one was injured.
Warning does not reach the tower
Normally, for flights with the President on board, the crew must inform the control tower at Reagan Airport three minutes before takeoff. All departures will then be stopped until Marine One has passed the area.
According to the report, on August 14th, the first radio message from the helicopter crew did not reach the tower, and the second one was incomprehensible. Because the air traffic controller had not received the required message, he gave the passenger jet permission to take off. The connection only came about when “Marine One” had already ascended. The collision warning system went off in the cockpit of the jet. However, according to those responsible, an evasive maneuver was not necessary.
Marine One normally takes off from the South Lawn of the White House. Because of the work on Trump’s planned ballroom, the launch site was temporarily moved to the Ellipse – the large, oval park and lawn immediately south of the White House. A subsequent check revealed that there was no sufficient line of sight between the current location of the radio system and the new launch site.
There were previous indications of problems
Five days before the incident, air traffic controllers had pointed out at a meeting with the presidential squadron that reports had not been received several times before takeoff. Squadron officials described the radio connection as “patchy,” according to a New York Times report.
After the incident, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) moved the radio technology to the roof of the control tower. According to the newspaper, communication problems arose again on Thursday. But the start message was relayed via another helicopter and the rest Air traffic stopped in time.
