The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating a safety incident involving Marine One, the helicopter carrying President Donald Trump, and a commercial airplane near Washington’s Reagan National Airport on Tuesday, August 5th, 2026.

President Trump departed the White House at 2:33 p.m. in Marine One en route to Joint Base Andrews, a routine transfer point where he boards Air Force One for trips. One minute after Marine One's departure, a commercial airplane, reported to be Envoy Air flight 3742, took off from Reagan National Airport’s Runway 1.

According to the FAA's preliminary safety review, there was a "momentary loss of separation after which the aircraft continued to move away from one another." Air Traffic Control maintained contact with both Marine One and the commercial aircraft during this period.

A visual shows the commercial jet positioned above and to the west of Marine One as both followed the Potomac River northward after departure.

This incident adds to a history of near misses at Reagan National Airport, as documented by a Daily Caller review of public records. Many of these near misses have been reported by pilots and some have involved presidential movements. For example, in May 2017, a helicopter and airplane pilot reported "an unsafe situation involving VIP movements." Additionally, an air traffic controller for the Potomac Consolidated TRACON noted that despite holding airplanes in the sky during a presidential movement, controllers at Reagan National launched two departures near the presidential aircraft.

The FAA continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding this event to ensure airspace safety around the nation's capital.

Sources