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Helicopter Carrying Trump Flies Near Passenger Jet in Washington Airspace
The New York Times • • nation
Key Points:
- A military helicopter carrying President Trump came within less than a mile of a passenger jet above Washington due to garbled communications with air traffic controllers at Ronald Reagan National Airport.
- The incident occurred around 2:30 p.m. as Marine One was flying from the White House to Joint Base Andrews on the first leg of a trip to Los Angeles.
- Marine One's crew made three unsuccessful attempts to warn controllers they were about to take off, leading to the helicopter entering the flight path of an Envoy Air passenger jet.
- At closest approach, the helicopter was 0.8 miles laterally and 700 feet vertically from the passenger jet, narrowly avoiding breaching FAA-defined safe separation standards.
- The FAA's preliminary findings highlight the communication failure, raising concerns given a previous tragic collision between a military helicopter and passenger jet in Washington airspace last year.
