NTSB: Temporary Ellipse site factored into Marine One incident

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a preliminary report Thursday blaming the location of a temporary Ellipse site for an incident in early August when President Trump’s Marine One helicopter came within a mile of a passenger jet.

The report stated that the helicopter attempted to contact air traffic controllers twice at Reagan Washington National Airport — though neither of the two attempts reached the control tower.

The agency flagged two times that the helicopter attempted to contact controllers to give the typical three-minute liftoff warning to clear the airspace at 2:31 p.m. Aug. 4.

The first attempt was not received by National Airport’s air traffic control tower while the second was “broken and completely unreadable.”

When this failed, the helicopter attempted to relay the three-minute warning “through the helicopter facility at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, which was also unsuccessful.”

The notifications are meant to give the control tower enough time to clear the airspace for Marine One, but because of the contact failure, a helicopter carrying Trump came within 0.82 miles laterally and about 700 feet vertically of the passenger jet, according to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) estimate.

A coverage analysis done by FAA engineers also “determined that there was not adequate line-of-sight to ensure communications between the radio transmitter/receiver sight and The Ellipse.”

The site of The Ellipse was relocated in July amid ongoing construction on the White House helipad.

The Washington Post reported at the time that the initial location of the helipad has been closed since May when Trump began constructing an arena for the UFC Freedom 250 fight.

The report confirmed that air traffic control had conducted other radio checks at the new Ellipse site with two separate Marine Helicopter Squadron One before the incident.

The White House said in the days following the incident that Trump was never “in harm’s way.”

When questioned about the report, White House spokesperson Kush Desai said, “Marine One flights are piloted by the finest aviators in the world, and the White House maintains the utmost confidence in these patriots and other security officials who are responsible for ensuring the President’s safety.”

“The White House continues to work with relevant military, FAA, and other security personnel to ensure the President’s continued safety,” Desai continued.