A National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report has detailed how communications failures preceded a close call between Marine One, carrying President Donald Trump, and an Envoy Air Embraer E170 near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on 4 August. The aircraft came within about 0.82 nautical miles laterally and 700 feet vertically, although the NTSB said the encounter remained within the applicable Class B radar-separation standard.
The report points to radio-reception problems that had already been raised in a meeting a week earlier between Marine One crew members and Reagan controllers. An alternate relay method also failed on the day of the incident, leaving the three-minute advance warning expected before Marine One departures missed or unreadable. FAA technicians later determined the receiver location did not have adequate line of sight from the White House departure area during construction and moved the equipment to the top of the Reagan tower.
The episode adds pressure on coordination procedures around VIP helicopter operations at one of the nation’s busiest airfields, where commercial traffic already faces heightened scrutiny after the January 2025 midair collision. The NTSB’s finding remains preliminary, and the investigation is continuing.