FAA investigating safety incident involving Marine One
FAA investigating more "close calls" at US airports
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating after a close call between two commercial planes at Logan Airport over the weekend. It's the latest in a series of similar incidents since the FAA vowed to pursue a goal of zero "serious" close calls by examining a combination of technical and human factors.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating an incident involving Marine One, the president’s military helicopter, while it was carrying President Donald Trump, Reuters reports.
According to Reuters, it happened Tuesday when Trump was flying from the White House to Joint Base Andrews for a trip to Los Angeles.
Marine One safety incident
What we know:
When Marine One took off Tuesday afternoon, air-traffic controllers reportedly failed to stop commercial flights at nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The ground stop is required under a new rule set last year following the fatal January 2025 mid-air collision of an American Airlines regional jet and an Army helicopter that killed 67 people.
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A source told Reuters that a minute after Marine One took off, a regional jet left Reagan airport and was "involved in the apparent loss of separation incident with Marine One." The regional jet is owned by Envoy, a subsidiary of American Airlines.
U.S. President Donald Trump boards Marine One, the presidential helicopter, on the Ellipse as he travels to Camp David on July 31, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
FAA requires aircraft to remain separated by at least 1.5 miles horizontally and 500 feet vertically around airports. Both Trump's helicopter and the jet landed without incident, and the FAA said it wasn’t a "dangerous close call."
Another regional jet was 3 miles from Reagan. That flight path was shifted out of caution, Reuters reports.
What we don't know:
American Airlines and The White House did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
What they're saying:
"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 in a statement.
What's next:
The FAA is reportedly planning to investigate the incident.
The Source: This report includes information from Reuters.