Controllers Warned Marine One Crew of Radio Failures Before Near Miss

Controllers and Marine One pilots held a meeting one week before an Aug. 4 safety incident near Reagan National Airport to resolve communication problems, the NTSB said Thursday. The backup relay arrangement they agreed on also failed during the incident.

• 67 people died in a January 2025 midair collision near Reagan National.
• 0.8 mile horizontal and 700 feet vertical separated the two aircraft at closest point.
• White House construction temporarily relocated Marine One's landing zone, a contributing factor.
• A Pentagon-to-tower hotline had been inoperable more than three years without the FAA knowing.

Why it matters: FAA rules adopted after the January 2025 crash require all Reagan takeoffs and landings to halt when a helicopter travels a conflicting route. That protocol was not followed on Aug. 4.

• Tower recordings did not capture Marine One's three-minute warning call, though a separate recording indicates the pilot made the transmission.
• The Envoy Air crew received a collision avoidance alert but never visually spotted the helicopter.

How 24 sources split on this story

Where they split: Coverage does not split on facts, but Political Wire emphasizes White House construction as a cause while The Independent and The National Desk focus on the communication breakdown between military and civilian controllers.

What’s next: FAA technicians moved radio equipment to the top of Reagan tower; follow-up tests confirmed it works.

• The NTSB preliminary report is out; a full investigation continues.
• Will the NTSB's final report result in permanent changes to how military helicopter departures are coordinated with civilian air traffic at Reagan?
• Who bears responsibility for the failed relay arrangement — the military, the FAA, or both?
• How long did the line-of-sight radio problem exist before the Aug. 4 incident exposed it?