The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a preliminary report on Aug. 27 citing a communication failure as the cause behind a Marine One helicopter carrying President Donald Trump coming too close to a commercial aircraft earlier this month.
NTSB’s preliminary report showed that the Marine One helicopter crew tried contacting air traffic controllers at the Reagan Washington National Airport twice to give them the standard three-minute liftoff warning to clear airspace in the area before departing from the White House.
The Marine One crew’s first communication attempt was not received by Reagan Washington National Airport’s air traffic control tower, while the second was “broken and completely unreadable.” The crew also tried to relay the three-minute notification through the helicopter facility at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, but was once again unsuccessful….