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President Donald Trump's helicopter experienced communication issues with air traffic controllers during a recent takeoff from the White House.

The administration announced that the presidential helicopter, Marine One, experienced communication difficulties with air traffic controllers at Reagan National Airport. While the president was preparing to take off from the White House Ellipse, the pilots failed to transmit a successful three-minute warning to the tower. This resulted in a brief loss of separation from a passenger jet, where the two aircraft were at one point separated by 0.82 nautical miles horizontally and 700 feet vertically. Federal investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) identified the issue as a lack of line-of-sight between the radio transmitter and the temporary landing zone. The FAA moved the antenna to the top of the control tower to resolve the problem. Although the administration announced that the president was never in danger, the incident occurred because the helipad was moved to the Ellipse due to construction on the South Lawn. The FAA confirmed that subsequent tests showed no further communication issues.

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