Washington airport gets extra warning before Marine One takes off with Trump

Air traffic controllers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport now receive an additional heads-up before the presidential helicopter leaves the White House. The Federal Aviation Administration told The Independent that the National Capital Region Coordination Center has an agreement to alert the control tower ahead of each Marine One departure. This supplements a three-minute alert from the helicopter itself, meant to give controllers time to halt Reagan flights and clear a path toward Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. The Washington Post first reported the change.

It follows an August 4 episode involving President Donald Trump, who was aboard Marine One before an Air Force One trip to Los Angeles. An Envoy Air jet taking off from Reagan passed within about 0. 8 miles horizontally and 700 feet vertically of the helicopter, short of the 1. 5 miles and 500 feet the FAA requires near airports. Marine One's pilots twice tried to notify the tower, and also tried going through Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, but neither message got through. The FAA found the jet's collision-avoidance system sounded an alert and the plane climbed over the helicopter, whose crew hovered until it had gone.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Independent’s reporting. Read the full story at The Independent →