Donald Trump in near miss in helicopter flying above Washington DC
Donald Trump came dangerously close to a midair collision over Washington DC earlier today in his military helicopter.
Marine One came within 1.2km in lateral distance and just 200m in vertical distance from a passenger plane at 2.30pm Wednesday local time (4am Thursday AEST).
Marine One taking off from the Ellipse earlier this week. AP Photo/Alex Brandon
This is about half of the distance considered a safe separation between aircraft.
An audio recording showed the president’s helicopter radioed the airport control tower to announce their liftoff from near the White House three times in three minutes.
When they received no reply all three times, the helicopter took off without clearance.
Moments later, an air traffic controller flagged the danger.
“Marine One, you got traffic rotating off Runway 1,” the controller said to the helicopter.
The plane was an Envoy Air flight to Pensacola, Florida, which had just taken off moments earlier from nearby National Airport.
Donald Trump arriving in Las Vegas after the near-miss over Washington. AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
The plane has a capacity of between 66 to 78 passengers, though it is not known how many people were actually on board.
The plane made the rest of its flight safely and has already landed in Pensacola.
The near-miss is now being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
White House spokesperson Kush Desai denied the president was at any risk.
“Although the president was at no point in harm’s way during yesterday’s momentary loss of separation, the White House continues to work with relevant military, FAA and other security personnel to ensure the president’s continued safety,” he told the New York Times.
Helicopter traffic had been heavily restricted around the airport following a mid-air collision over Washington DC in March last year.
Those rules do not apply to the president.
A Coast Guard vessel with a crane is pictured as it works near the wreckage of a Black Hawk helicopter in the Potomac River from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) nna\mikala.theocharous
The March crash took place when a Black Hawk military helicopter on a training flight collided with a passenger jet shortly after takeoff.
All sixty-seven people on both flights died in the accident.
Washington is one of many parts of America beset by a shortage of air traffic controllers.
At the time of the crash in March last year, just one controller was working two different tower positions.
Today, Trump was en route to a visit to one of his properties in Las Vegas.
He has not commented on the near-miss.
Marine One, the call sign for the president’s helicopter, took off from the Ellipse, a large park between the White House and the Washington monument.
The usual helipad on the White House lawn is currently being torn up to be replaced by a bigger one.
One of the runways at Ronald Reagan National Airport points almost directly at the White House, just across the river.
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