Trump's Helicopter Nearly Collides with Airliner – New Details from NYT

A Marine One helicopter carrying US President Donald Trump dangerously approached an Envoy Air passenger plane over Washington on August 4. According to NYT, the distance narrowed to 1.3 km horizontally and 213 meters vertically. The helicopter crew tried three times to contact air traffic controllers without success. The FAA has launched an investigation, and the White House expressed confidence in the pilots.

An incident in the skies over Washington nearly turned into a serious catastrophe for the presidential aircraft. The Marine One helicopter, on board which was US President Donald Trump, dangerously approached a passenger plane of Envoy Air. As reported by The New York Times, citing its own sources, the incident occurred on August 4 shortly after 2:30 PM. Donald Trump was heading from the White House to Joint Base Andrews as part of the first leg of his trip to Los Angeles. According to preliminary findings of specialists from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), during the flight Marine One reduced the distance with the passenger aircraft to 1.3 kilometers horizontally and 213 meters vertically. According to current FAA regulations, a critical approach is considered when aircraft come within less than 2.4 km horizontally or less than 152 meters in altitude. The situation was complicated by communication problems with ground services. According to transcripts of radio communications, before takeoff the crew of the presidential helicopter tried three times to contact the controllers of the National Airport, warning of readiness to depart in three minutes. However, no response from the controller followed, and subsequent calls remained without an intelligible answer – the controller only muffled noted that the message was intermittent and unreadable. As a result, the helicopter continued and ended up on the flight path of the Envoy Air liner. The Federal Aviation Administration characterized the incident as a 'temporary loss of separation.' Agency representatives assured that the president's life was not in danger, but an internal investigation into possible safety violations continues. In turn, a White House spokesman, Kush Desai, issued an official comment, emphasizing that the administration fully trusts the flight crew: 'Although the president was not in danger during yesterday's temporary loss of separation, the White House continues to cooperate with the relevant military, the Federal Aviation Administration, and other security services to ensure the continued safety of the president.'