Marine One carrying President Donald Trump lifts off from The Ellipse near the White House on Thursday after dealing with more radio drama.
Less than a month ago, there was a pretty startling incident near the Washington, D.C. construction site that used to just be known as the White House. On August 4, Marine One took off with President Trump aboard, but without the pilots effectively communicating that to air traffic controllers. As a result, rather than halt other aircraft, the controllers allowed a passenger jet to take off from nearby Reagan National Airport, briefly putting the plane and Marine One less than a mile apart in the air. That’s never supposed to happen. What’s also troubling is that we now know that this wasn’t the first communication breakdown between Marine One and air traffic controllers, nor was it the last.
That day, a controller was able to warn Marine One about the plane and the pilots allowed it get further away before proceeding. It does not appear the life of the president or the lives of those aboard the passenger jet were in any real danger, it was still a stunning mishap and a violation of FAA rules, which require all aircraft in Reagan’s crowded airspace to maintain at least 1.5 miles of separation. As our aviation writer Jeff Wise pointed out, the near-miss was a scary mistake, particularly in light of January’s disastrous midair collision between an Army helicopter and a passenger jet near the airport.
