Marine One Experiences Communication Issues with Air Traffic Control Again

President Donald Trump's helicopter, Marine One, encountered communication difficulties with air traffic controllers on Thursday, marking the second such incident this month. The issue arose as Marine One was preparing for takeoff in Washington, D.C., when its communications were not received by controllers, prompting intervention from another pilot. This incident occurred approximately one hour after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released details about a similar communication failure in early August. During that incident on August 4, Marine One, carrying President Trump, came within one mile of a commercial jet that had just taken off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The NTSB reported that Marine One's initial attempt to contact air traffic controllers was not received, and a second attempt was described as broken and unreadable. FAA technicians indicated that there was insufficient line-of-sight for communications from the Ellipse, a large lawn near the White House that Marine One has been using for takeoffs due to ongoing construction at the White House. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated on August 11 that the issue had been resolved. He explained that infrastructure developments in Virginia and the D.C. area had caused interference with the communication antenna. Duffy assured that a fix was in place to prevent future occurrences. However, the communication issues resurfaced on Thursday. The FAA confirmed that air traffic controllers were able to establish contact with Marine One before its takeoff, but did not comment on the recurrence of the radio problems.