The Federal Aviation Administration has launched an investigation after President Donald Trump departed the White House aboard his Marine One helicopter even though despite flights had not been grounded at nearby Reagan Washington National Airport.
“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,” the FAA said in a statement.
The investigation and incident, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, come after the FAA changed regulations around the White House and Reagan Airport following a deadly crash involving an Army helicopter and an American Airlines jet.
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What happened?
On Tuesday afternoon, officials say, Trump departed the White House headed to Joint Base Andrews for a trip to Los Angeles.
Upon his departure, air traffic control at Reagan failed to halt all flights in and out of the airport.
One minute after Trump departed, a regional jet headed to Florida took off from the airport and was involved in an apparent loss of separation incident with Marine One, two sources told Reuters.
Under FAA regulations, aircraft must remain separated by 1.5 miles horizontally and 500 feet vertically. Marine One and the jet failed to maintain that separation, the sources said.
Both the jet and Marine One continued their flights without incident. However, the FAA is convening a safety review team to examine the incident.
FAA regulations shift after deadly crash
Tuesday’s incident occurred more than a year after a deadly mid-air collision between an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter. The crash killed 67 people and resulted in numerous FAA regulation changes.
After the incident, the FAA suspended the use of visual separation between airplanes and helicopters, instead switching to radar separation. It found after the January 2025 incident that there was an overreliance on pilot “see and avoid” practices in high-traffic areas, such as around Reagan National.
Now, controllers must manage aircraft separation by radar at specific lateral or vertical distances.
The FAA also announced it was barring helicopters and jets from flying simultaneously in and around Reagan Airport, and when Marine One is in flight, commercial traffic is typically halted.
NBC News reported that FAA air traffic control is typically given at least three minutes’ notice before Marine One departs, allowing time to halt traffic at Reagan.
Since the 2025 incident, the FAA also announced it was creating a safety management system and safety risk management process intended to proactively identify and address recurring hazards before they lead to accidents.
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