White House Construction Disrupts Marine One Radio; Fix Fails Again

WASHINGTON—White House construction forced Marine One to use a temporary departure point with inadequate radio coverage, contributing to a loss of required separation from a passenger jet before an antenna repair was announced and the communication problem happened again.

The presidential helicopter moved from the South Lawn to the Ellipse while construction continued at the White House. A preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report found that controllers did not receive the standard warning before its August 4 takeoff. They cleared an Envoy Air jet to depart Reagan National Airport as Marine One rose into nearby airspace.

The aircraft came within about 0.82 nautical miles horizontally and 700 feet vertically. Federal Aviation Administration technicians found that their radio site lacked adequate line of sight to the temporary helipad, so they moved the equipment to the airport tower and completed successful tests.

Less than an hour after the report describing the successful fix was released Thursday, controllers again could not hear Marine One before takeoff. A support helicopter relayed the message, and direct communication returned before the flight departed. The repair had reached the important federal milestone at which its completion and its recurrence could share the same afternoon.

The FAA says it is reviewing procedures. The construction has already reshaped the White House, its grounds and now the local radio horizon, giving the project an operational footprint large enough to be detected whenever the signal is not.