FAA to investigate after Trump Marine One safety incident in Washington

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a safety incident involving Marine One, President Trump's helicopter. The incident occurred Tuesday as the helicopter departed from the White House. Air traffic controllers had not halted commercial flights at nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport as required by policy, according to sources who spoke to Reuters. This policy was implemented last year after a fatal collision.

Trump's helicopter lifted off from the Ellipse near the White House around 2:33 p.m. en route to Joint Base Andrews. A regional E170 jet, Envoy Air 3742, bound for Pensacola, Florida, departed shortly after and was involved in the apparent loss of separation incident. FAA rules mandate that aircraft maintain at least 1.5 miles horizontally and 500 feet vertically separation around airports. Sources indicated that Marine One and the jet did not maintain this separation, though they did not appear to be converging.

Both the helicopter and the jet landed without incident. The FAA is reportedly planning to convene a Safety Review Team to examine the event. Another regional flight was rerouted as a precaution. The FAA had previously imposed permanent restrictions on helicopter operations around Reagan National Airport following a fatal mid-air collision in January 2025.

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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.