Federal investigators are examining a serious breakdown in Washington’s tightly controlled airspace after Marine One, carrying President Donald Trump, flew closer than permitted to a passenger jet departing Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

The New York Times reported that the presidential helicopter came within 0.8 miles horizontally and 700 feet vertically of Envoy Air Flight 3742, an Embraer E170 bound for Pensacola, Florida. The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed a “momentary loss of separation,” but said the aircraft were moving away from each other and Trump was never in danger.

Before departing the Ellipse near the White House, Marine One’s crew reportedly tried three times to alert Reagan National’s control tower that it was three minutes from takeoff. One transmission was described by the controller as “broken and unreadable.” Marine One lifted off shortly afterward, while the Envoy jet was cleared to depart just one minute later.

Only after the helicopter was airborne did the tower warn its crew about traffic taking off from Reagan’s main runway. Marine One reported having the aircraft in sight and briefly delayed its movement before continuing toward Joint Base Andrews. Both aircraft completed their flights safely.

The incident is especially alarming because commercial operations at Reagan National are supposed to be halted during conflicting presidential helicopter movements. Those restrictions were introduced after an American Airlines regional jet collided with an Army Black Hawk near the airport in 2025, killing all 67 people aboard the two aircraft.

Following that disaster, regulators barred mixed helicopter and commercial-aircraft traffic in portions of the airspace, restricted the use of visual separation and required military aircraft to continuously broadcast their locations. Despite those safeguards, the tower apparently failed to stop departures before Marine One entered the area.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating, while the FAA is expected to convene a broader safety-review team. A second regional jet approaching Reagan National was also rerouted as a precaution during the incident.

The White House said Trump was never at risk. The Marine Corps similarly rejected descriptions of the episode as a close call, saying Marine One’s pilots followed the route authorized by air traffic control. The investigation will now focus on why the mandatory traffic shutdown failed and whether the garbled radio communications played a decisive role.