Passenger Plane Takes Off from Nearby Airport as Trump's Marine One Lifts Off in Close Call

U.S. President Donald Trump's presidential helicopter, Marine One, came within a range of a potential collision risk with a commercial passenger plane taking off from a nearby airport, it was learned on the 5th (local time).

According to U.S. air traffic control (ATC) communications records and the White House press pool, Marine One took off with President Trump aboard at around 2:33 to 2:34 p.m. the previous day from the Ellipse, a helicopter landing site on the south lawn of the White House.

Three minutes before takeoff, the pilot of Marine One notified the controller at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport of a "takeoff in three minutes."

Reagan National Airport is located about 4 miles (approximately 6.4 km) in a straight line from the White House.

According to standard practice, a three-minute prior notice is the rule to prevent collisions between aircraft, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was required to hold commercial aircraft on the runway during this period. However, a passenger plane operated by Envoy Air took off from Reagan National Airport as scheduled at 2:34 p.m.

Consequently, Marine One and the passenger plane entered a state of "standard separation loss."

This refers to air traffic control regulations designed to maintain safe distances between aircraft, which require keeping a distance of 1.5 miles horizontally and 500 feet (152 meters) vertically.

However, the FAA explained that the distance between the aircraft was not close enough to pose a collision risk under federal regulations, and because their flight paths were not converging, it did not fall into the category of a "serious near-miss incident."

President Trump safely landed in Marine One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where he boarded Air Force One and headed to Los Angeles.

The passenger plane also safely arrived at its destination in Florida.

The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and other outlets reported that the FAA is investigating why the air traffic controller at Reagan National Airport failed to properly respond despite the Marine One pilot having issued three takeoff notices.

The area around Reagan National Airport, located close to downtown Washington, D.C., has long raised safety concerns due to frequent aircraft takeoffs and landings, as well as heavy military aircraft operations.

In fact, on January 29 of last year, a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with a passenger plane that had received landing clearance at Reagan National Airport, resulting in the deaths of all 67 people on board.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.