Communication issues occurred between air traffic control frequencies and Marine One just before a passenger jet got too close to the helicopter carrying President Donald Trump as he was taking off from a temporary location at the White House earlier this month, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report on Thursday.
The seven pages of findings also contained details about how construction at the White House played a role.
“There was not adequate line-of-sight to ensure communications between the radio transmitter/receiver sight and The Ellipse, where (Marine One) was temporarily operating from while construction was ongoing at the White House,” the report said.
The report says Marine One made failed two attempts to contact Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport’s air traffic control tower. The first attempt was “not received at all,” and the second attempt “was broken and completely unreadable,” and investigators further questioned the helicopter control frequencies.
Earlier this month, planes continued to take off as Marine One lifted off from the Ellipse, just south of the White House, with President Trump onboard. An American Airlines regional jet got within the protective bubble around the helicopter. Flights are typically halted from the nearby airport when the president is taking off.
