FAA to investigate after Trump Marine One safety incident in Washington

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating a safety incident that occurred on Tuesday involving Marine One, the helicopter carrying President Donald Trump. Air-traffic controllers reportedly failed to halt commercial flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport as required when Marine One departed the White House for Joint Base Andrews. This policy was established last year following a fatal collision. An Envoy Air regional jet, Envoy Air 3742, departed at 2:34 p.m., one minute after Marine One's 2:33 p.m. takeoff, leading to an apparent loss of separation. FAA rules mandate a minimum separation of 1.5 miles horizontally and 500 feet vertically around airports. Both aircraft landed without incident, and sources indicate the FAA plans to convene a Safety Review Team. The FAA stated, "The FAA is investigating a safety incident involving Marine One but it didn't appear to be a dangerous close call and the aircraft weren't apparently converging."