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FAA Plans Antennas and Comms Fixes After Trump Helicopter Incident

Wall Street Journal US Business •
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Federal aviation officials plan to move air-traffic control antennas and implement new procedures to avoid a repeat of last week’s safety incident with Marine One near a busy Washington, D.C., airport. The planned changes, which also include boosting radio signals, aim to reduce potential communications interference at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and ensure controllers clear the airspace of commercial traffic before the president’s helicopter takes off.

The measures are directed at addressing operational gaps identified in the episode, including an unintelligible transmission to air-traffic controllers, who failed to notify a nearby passenger jet of the president’s helicopter. On Aug. 4, a military helicopter carrying President Trump took off from the White House, bound for Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. Air-traffic controllers didn’t halt commercial flights at Reagan as required under safety protocols, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The FAA is now focusing on strengthening radio signals, changing procedures, and adding training to ensure such a lapse does not happen again.