FAA investigating why plane was allowed to take off from DC airport as Trump’s helicopter approached

WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating why a plane was allowed to take off as President Donald Trump’s helicopter was approaching Reagan National Airport on Tuesday afternoon in what appears to be a violation of safety procedures put in place after last year’s midair collision near the busy airport just outside Washington, D.C.

The incident occurred 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. A commercial jet took off at the same time. After 67 people died on Jan. 29, 2025, when an airliner collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter, the FAA decided that all takeoffs and landings at Reagan National would be halted any time a helicopter passed by the airport.

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 the 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 FAA said.

The White House emphasized that Trump was not in danger during the incident.

“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 told The Wall Street Journal.

And the Marine Corps defended the actions of its helicopter pilots.

“There were no ‘close calls’ with the routine Marine One movement,” Marine Corps spokesperson Capt. Jacob Sugg said in an email. “Washington National Tower did not delay the helicopter crew, ask them to hold, or otherwise alter their flight profile. To the contrary, the ATC team approved the requested route and provided timely and appropriate traffic information.”

The Wall Street Journal first reported the incident.

The airspace near the White House and Reagan National is heavily congested with military and commercial aircraft.

Poor communication between the military and the civilian air traffic controllers at Reagan National has been an issue in the past. It came out last spring, after one of the hearings on the midair collision, that a hotline connecting the Pentagon to the tower at Reagan National hadn’t been working for more than three years, and the FAA hadn’t even realized it.

The FAA took steps to ensure that helicopters and airplanes would no longer share the same airspace around Reagan National shortly after the investigation into last year’s midair collision began. The rules also prohibit air traffic controllers from relying on visual separation and require all military aircraft to broadcast their locations.

In a social media post Wednesday morning, family members of victims of last year’s crash questioned why the government hasn’t done more to prevent collisions in the crowded airspace around Reagan National. The family members have been urging Congress to reach a compromise and pass the package of aviation safety reforms that the National Transportation Safety Board recommended after the midair collision.

The NTSB said Wednesday morning that it is still gathering information about Tuesday’s incident involving Marine One and hasn’t yet decided whether to investigate.

Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska.