Topline
An incident involving a commercial jet that flew too close to a helicopter carrying President Donald Trump this month may have been linked to construction being done at the White House, according to a Thursday report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
U.S. President Donald Trump walks over to Air Force One after landing in Marine One at Morristown Municipal Airport on August 16, 2026 in Morristown, New Jersey.
Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Key Facts
The NTSB report noted Marine One has been taking off from the Ellipse instead of the South Lawn amid construction on the White House grounds, which include the White House ballroom and a helipad being installed on the South Lawn.
Technicians with the Federal Aviation Administration also found there was “not adequate line-of-sight to ensure communications between the radio transmitter/receiver sight and The Ellipse,” according to the report.
Marine One tried contacting air traffic controllers twice at Reagan Washington National Airport to give a standard three-minute liftoff warning used to clear airspace, though one transmission was not received while the other was “broken and completely unreadable.”
The air traffic control tower at Reagan cleared a jet for takeoff because it did not receive the warning from Marine One, which eventually warned the tower after gaining altitude.
The helicopter carrying Trump flew 0.82 miles apart laterally and about 700 feet vertically from a passenger jet as a result (FAA rules say aircraft in Class B airspace are required to be separated at least 1.72 miles laterally or 500 feet vertically).
The report noted the Marine One crew told Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport’s air traffic controllers a week prior to the incident that communications “had been spotty.”
The FAA said earlier this month Trump was “never in danger” during the incident.
What To Watch For
The Thursday NTSB report is preliminary and the incident investigation is still ongoing. No official announcements have been made regarding disciplinary actions for anyone involved.
Key Background
The White House is undergoing construction for Trump’s $600 million ballroom and for the South Lawn helipad, which will have a granite pad installed to withstand hot exhaust fumes created by the new VH-92A Patriot Marine One helicopter. Amid the construction projects, Marine One has used the Ellipse as a takeoff site. The incident this month was brow–raising, not only because it involved Trump, but also Reagan Washington National Airport, where a 2025 crash between American Airlines Flight 5342 and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter killed 67 people. The collision led to new federal regulations in D.C. airspace including a law prohibiting commercial and military helicopters from operating near the airport when primary runways are being used.
Further Reading
Trump’s Helicopter Was Briefly Too Close To Commercial Jet On Tuesday, FAA Says (Forbes)
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