FAA says Trump’s Marine One briefly flew too close to passenger jet

The FAA said in a statement that its preliminary safety review of the incident on Tuesday found “a momentary loss of separation, after which the aircraft continued to move away from one another”.

The statement added that Trump was not in danger and that an air traffic controller remained in contact with both pilots throughout.

In January 2025, a collision between a military helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet killed 67 people.

Marine One lifted off from the Ellipse near the White House at about 2:33pm local time (18:33 GMT) on Tuesday, en route to Joint Base Andrews ahead of a presidential trip to Los Angeles, according to a White House pool report.

Both the aircraft landed safely, although neither flight’s involvement has been confirmed by the FAA.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it would launch its own investigation into the incident.

The near-miss on Tuesday afternoon revives scrutiny of air traffic protocols at Reagan National following the collision last year.

The crash then led to permanent restrictions on mixed helicopter and commercial traffic at the airport, along with a subsequent ban, introduced in March, on using visual-only separation for helicopters near major US airports.