The president’s helicopter experienced an apparent loss of communication with Ronald Reagan National Airport on Thursday, as President Donald Trump was leaving the White House for a trip to Texas. The issue occurred hours after an investigation found that Marine One experienced issues communicating with the same airport during a separate incident earlier this month.
Before lifting off from the Ellipse, air traffic controllers at DCA had an exchange with another helicopter about Marine One’s failure to communicate with the tower.
“Eagle Two, Marine One is trying to reach you at three minutes to lift,” a pilot told the tower, identifying his aircraft and conveying the president’s impending departure.
“Oh, I couldn’t hear any of that,” an air traffic controller responded.
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Once alerted, the tower asked the pilot when Marine One had communicated with him, saying they were trying to coordinate. The tower again reached out to Marine One, which didn’t respond. The air traffic controller radioed another helicopter that was a member of the presidential Marine One squadron.
“Nighthawk Eight, do me a favor, I can’t hear Marine One,” a controller said. “If you hear Marine One, can you let me know?”
The tower reconnected with Marine One after about 43 seconds.
The disconnect happened after a preliminary investigation found that air traffic controllers at Reagan warned about having communications issues with the Marine Corps helicopter squadron staff before an aircraft flew within a mile of the president’s helicopter earlier this month.
A domestic passenger jet and Marine One came within 0.82 lateral miles of each other with Trump on board, after Marine One tried to reach the tower twice but didn’t get through. The incident — what the Federal Aviation Administration calls a “loss of standard separation” — occurred a week after a meeting to devise alternative communication methods in case of such issues.
When asked about Thursday’s radio failure, an FAA spokesperson told NOTUS in a statement that the agency took immediate action after the Aug. 4 incident, including relocating an antenna to improve communications between DCA air traffic controllers and Marine One pilots.
“The three-minute notification was communicated by alternate means, acknowledged by a controller and positive contact was established with Marine One before takeoff,” the FAA spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority directed NOTUS to the FAA.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Marine One lifted off from the Ellipse at 3:03 p.m. on Thursday, ferrying Trump to Joint Base Andrews. After the Aug. 4 incident, FAA technicians found that there was “not adequate line-of-sight to ensure communications between the radio transmitter/receiver and The Ellipse.”
Marine One has been departing from the Ellipse while construction on a helipad on the White House South Lawn is ongoing. Trump said last week that he anticipates construction to be completed in late September.
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