The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating an incident where Marine One went airborne before airport operations could be paused at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
The incident wasn’t a close call, and no aircraft were in immediate danger, but the breach of safety procedures raised eyebrows following last year’s fatal mid-air collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter.
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People familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal and Reuters that the incident occurred on Tuesday after Marine One took off from the White House lawn shortly after 2:30 p.m., with President Donald Trump on board. Standard safety procedure calls for air traffic controllers to halt all commercial aircraft activity at the airport where Marine One takes off.
FAA regulations require aircraft near airports to maintain at least 1.5 miles of horizontal separation and 500 feet of vertical separation, which may have been violated on Tuesday.
In a statement to several media outlets, the FAA confirmed the investigation but downplayed the danger.
“The FAA is investigating a safety incident involving Marine One but it didn’t appear to be a dangerous close call and the aircraft weren’t apparently converging,” it said.
The White House also downplayed 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 spokesman Kush Desai said.
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A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that a second flight was told to briefly circle the airport out of caution before landing at 2:52 p.m.
Mixed air traffic between helicopters and airplanes has been sharply curtailed after the January 2025 mid-air collision between an American Airlines civilian airliner and an Army Black Hawk helicopter.
