White House construction disrupted presidential helicopter communications, investigators find

Construction work at the White House is implicated in a near-miss incident involving the presidential helicopter and a commercial airliner. Investigators found that communications between Marine One and air traffic control were severely hampered by the ongoing work.

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have revealed that the first attempt to contact the airport control tower to report the imminent takeoff of the presidential helicopter was not received at all, and the second was garbled and totally inaudible.

On August 4, the helicopter carrying President Donald Trump and a commercial plane experienced a dangerously close encounter in Washington's airspace. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) launched an investigation after the incident, which saw the two aircraft briefly within too close a proximity shortly after takeoff.

The NTSB's preliminary report revealed that air traffic control did not receive the initial attempt to notify them of Marine One's impending takeoff. A second attempt was reportedly garbled and inaudible. FAA technicians determined that the temporary takeoff location for Marine One, due to construction at the White House, prevented proper communications.

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Marine One's temporary location during ongoing construction work at the White House did not allow for communications.

While the White House and the FAA stated the president was never in danger, the closest recorded distances were 0.82 miles horizontally and 700 feet vertically. Current regulations require minimum distances of 1.5 miles horizontally or 500 feet vertically. The NTSB is still working to confirm these exact measurements as its investigation continues.

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to calculate and confirm these distances and continues its investigation.