New Details Revealed About Near-Catastrophic Trump Helicopter Incident

New details have emerged about a near-catastrophic incident involving President Donald Trump’s helicopter, Marine One, according to a report issued Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Earlier this month, aircraft continued to take off while Marine One departed from The Ellipse, south of the White House, with Trump aboard.

An regional airline plane operated by American Airlines came dangerously close to the protective airspace surrounding the helicopter. Typically, flights are suspended at the nearby airport when the president is preparing to take off.

Communication issues occurred between air traffic control frequencies and Marine One just before a passenger plane approached the helicopter carrying Trump dangerously closely during its takeoff from a temporary site at the White House earlier this month.

The 7-page report also included details about the role that ongoing White House construction played in the incident, according to CNN.

The report stated: "There was insufficient direct line of sight to ensure communication between the wireless signal transmitter and receiver location and The Ellipse, where Marine One was temporarily landing and taking off while White House construction continued."

The report noted that Marine One failed in two attempts to contact the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The first attempt did not go through at all, while the second was "intermittent and completely unintelligible," prompting investigators to raise additional questions about the helicopter’s communication frequencies.

After the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stated: "There was a temporary loss of separation standards between the two aircraft, after which the aircraft and helicopter moved away from each other." The FAA confirmed that the president was never in danger at any point.

The National Transportation Safety Board stated that the air traffic control frequency was operating normally, with no known malfunctions or reports of degraded signal performance on the day of the incident.

Federal Aviation Administration engineers from Spectra Engineering conducted a signal coverage analysis and concluded that "there was insufficient direct line of sight to ensure communication between the wireless signal transmitter and receiver location and The Ellipse," where Marine One took off from a temporary site near the White House during ongoing construction.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the issue to journalists, later stating that the problem stemmed from a communications failure.

Engineers told investigators after the incident that there was no documented history of prior frequency problems. Additionally, tests were conducted with two helicopters from the First Marine Helicopter Squadron, both located at The Ellipse and in the same area, with no deficiencies reported.

The report also noted that Marine One was operating temporarily from the site "while White House construction continued."

No communication issues were recorded with other helicopters that maintained contact with the Reagan National Airport air traffic control tower.

The Federal Aviation Administration formed a committee to review safety procedures related to the incident and held a meeting with the White House Military Office’s helicopter unit.

The FAA added that the group would work on "enhancing pre-takeoff notification protocols three minutes in advance and increasing signal frequencies."