Radio communication problems caused by White House construction led to a flight incident involving US leader Donald Trump's helicopter, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report cited by the Associated Press.
Documents from the safety agency revealed that air traffic controllers did not hear an advance warning about the departure of Marine One and failed to pause nearby flight operations.
The National Transportation Safety Board is the independent US federal agency tasked with investigating civil aviation and transportation accidents. Marine One is the call sign designated for any US Marine Corps aircraft carrying the president of the United States.
Technical workers discovered that the communication breakdown was caused by the temporary relocation of the White House helipad to a new site during ongoing construction across the presidential administration grounds.
To resolve the signal issues with the presidential helicopter, technicians moved a radio receiver from a residential area near the airfield onto the top of a control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Located in Arlington County, Virginia, Reagan National Airport sits directly across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.
Commercial flight departure during presidential transfer
The incident took place in early August when Marine One lifted off from the helipad adjacent to the White House to transport Donald Trump to Joint Base Andrews. Joint Base Andrews, situated in Prince George's County, Maryland, is the military facility that houses presidential aircraft fleets, including Air Force One.
Air traffic controllers did not suspend commercial departures at Reagan National Airport during the helicopter's movement. One minute after Marine One departed, a commercial passenger plane carrying out a flight to Pensacola, a coastal city in Florida, took off from the airport.
Under a preliminary assessment, the two aircraft failed to maintain the required minimum distance between each other during flight. Both aircraft completed their journeys safely, Donald Trump was not injured, and an investigation into the event has been organized.
