Federal aviation officials are investigating an air-traffic safety incident Tuesday involving the military helicopter carrying President Donald Trump and another aircraft, according to Reuters news agency and air-traffic control audio reviewed by CNN.
“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,” the FAA said, according to Reuters.
The Marine One helicopter took off from the Ellipse just south of the White House on Tuesday afternoon, but air traffic at nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport continued for a couple of minutes afterward, according to a CNN review of air-traffic control audio captured by ATC.com.
There has been growing scrutiny of the extremely crowded airspace around Reagan National Airport, roughly 4 miles from the Ellipse, in the wake of a collision last year of a US Army Blackhawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet, killing all 67 people on board.
Following that incident, the FAA imposed heavy restrictions on helicopters operating near the airport.
