(CNN) — Communication issues occurred between air traffic control frequencies and Marine One just before a passenger jet got too close to the helicopter carrying President Donald Trump as he was taking off from a temporary location at the White House earlier this month, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report on Thursday.
The seven pages of findings also contained details about how construction at the White House played a role.
“There was not adequate line-of-sight to ensure communications between the radio transmitter/receiver sight and The Ellipse, where (Marine One) was temporarily operating from while construction was ongoing at the White House,” the report said.
The report says Marine One made failed two attempts to contact Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport’s air traffic control tower. The first attempt was “not received at all,” and the second attempt “was broken and completely unreadable,” and investigators further questioned the helicopter control frequencies.
Earlier this month, planes continued to take off as Marine One lifted off from the Ellipse, just south of the White House, with President Trump onboard. An American Airlines regional jet got within the protective bubble around the helicopter. Flights are typically halted from the nearby airport when the president is taking off.
“There was momentary loss of separation after which the aircraft continued to move away from one another,” the Federal Aviation Administration said after the incident, reaffirming the president was never in danger.
As previously reported by CNN, in a recording of air traffic control audio, the pilots onboard Marine One can be heard repeating they will be taking off soon, but the control tower was apparently unable to hear the transmission.
According to the NTSB, the air traffic control frequency had been working normally, and there were no known outages or reports of degradation on the day of the incident.
FAA technicians from Spectrum Engineering also conducted a coverage analysis and determined that “there was not adequate line of-sight to ensure communications between the radio transmitter/receiver sight and The Ellipse,” where Marine One left from the White House during the ongoing construction.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the issue to reporters when he said later that the breakdown resulted from a telecommunications problem.
“We’ve found at a staff level, between the Marine One team and the FAA, there had been some telecom issues,” Duffy told CNN at a news conference this month at Newark Liberty International Airport. “We are resolving that, and our teams are working very well together.”
Technicians told investigators after the incident there had been no documented history of reported problems with the frequency. Radio checks were also conducted with two separate Marine Helicopter Squadron One aircraft located at the Ellipse and in the same area, with no reported deficiencies. The report also notes Marine One was temporarily operating from the location “while construction was ongoing at the White House.”
There were also no deficiencies in communication with other helicopters in contact with DCA’s traffic control tower.
The FAA convened a safety review panel to investigate the incident, and agency leadership met with the White House Military Office helicopter unit. The FAA added the group would “enhance coordination on three-minute lift notification and boost signal frequencies.”
The NTSB investigation remains ongoing.
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