Marine One's warning calls before mishap went unheard by air traffic controllers
The NTSB said tower recordings show controllers never heard Marine One's Aug. 4 calls warning it was preparing to take off, though separate recordings confirm the calls were made.
Updated on: August 27, 2026 / 9:15 PM EDT / CBS/AP
Air traffic controllers in Washington and the pilots of President Trump's helicopter met to discuss communication issues one week before a jet was allowed to take off just as Marine One left the White House, federal investigators said Thursday.
Controllers reported not receiving the standard three-minute warning call ahead of Marine One flights and both sides agreed to an alternative in those instances — but that plan to relay the radio call through someone else was also unsuccessful on the day of the Aug. 4 incident near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary report shows .
Having both the jet and helicopter in the air at the same time seemed to violate safety procedures put in place after last year's midair collision near the busy airport that killed 67 people, but officials stressed that the president was never in danger. The Pentagon also has a longstanding agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration to provide controllers with a three-minute warning before the president's helicopter takes off that predates last year's crash.
The helicopter pilots tried to relay their three-minute call through the helicopter facility at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, but that was also unsuccessful, the NTSB report found.