According to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), a radio communications failure occurred on August 4, 2026, between Marine One and air traffic controllers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). The presidential helicopter, a Sikorsky VH-3D carrying US President Donald Trump, departed the Ellipse at approximately 14:34 local time when inadequate line-of-sight coverage prevented the crew's required departure notification from reaching the control tower.
At the same time, air traffic controllers at DCA cleared Envoy Air Flight 3742, an Embraer E170 bound for Pensacola International Airport (PNS) in Florida, for takeoff from Runway 1. Marine One crew members made two direct attempts to establish contact with the tower and tried to relay the warning through Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, but the transmissions were either not received or broken. Radio contact was only established after the helicopter climbed to a higher altitude, by which time the regional jet was already airborne.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) estimated that the two aircraft came within approximately 0.82 nautical miles laterally and 700 feet vertically of each other about two miles north of DCA. The NTSB noted that the aircraft remained within required separation limits because their 700-foot vertical separation exceeded the 500-foot minimum threshold. Pilots of the Envoy jet received a Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) traffic advisory, though no resolution advisory directing evasive action was issued.
Following the encounter, FAA technicians determined that inadequate line-of-sight radio coverage from the former equipment location in a residential neighborhood caused the failure. The agency relocated the radio equipment to the top of the DCA control tower, and subsequent flight testing confirmed that the communications issue was fully resolved.
