Packed passenger aircraft makes emergency touchdown after SpaceX rocket explodes mid-air
Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket exploded without warning over the Caribbean during a test flight, hurling debris into busy airspace and forcing packed airlinersto take evasive action
Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket exploded over the Caribbean during a test flight, scattering debris and forcing packed airliners carrying hundreds of passengers to take evasive action, according to a new damning report. Air traffic controllers scrambled to keep planes safe after SpaceX allegedly failed to notify them of the blast.
The SpaceX rocket disaster could have prompted an airborne catastrophe after the Starship test flight exploded without warning over the Caribbean, leaving hundreds of airline passengers in peril, a bombshell Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report has revealed.
The dramatic incident unfolded last January, when the seventh uncrewed Starship launch blew apart just 10 minutes after blasting off from Texas, USA.
The explosion of what has been dubbed the world’s most powerful rocket reportedly sent a huge cloud of debris hurtling across busy flight paths.
As a result, it reportedly forced two commercial airliners and a private jet, carrying around 450 people in total, to dodge the danger zone for nearly an hour.
According to the newly released FAA documents, one JetBlue flight bound for San Juan was told to proceed “at your own risk”, while an Iberia Airlines jet and a private plane had to be urgently rerouted by air traffic control after coming dangerously close to each other in the chaos.
At one point, a pilot was forced to declare a mayday three times before making an emergency landing in San Juan, the New York Post reported.
Air traffic controllers were reportedly left scrambling to prevent disaster, as SpaceX allegedly failed to alert them via the official hotline in the immediate aftermath of the blast.
Instead, Miami controllers only learned of the falling debris after pilots radioed in, having flown straight through the mess, as per the New York Post.
Miraculously, all three aircraft reportedly landed safely and no injuries were reported. However, the FAA report has raised serious questions about SpaceX’s communication and safety protocols.
SpaceX, which confirmed the “rapid unscheduled disassembly” of Starship at the time, has promised to review the data and improve reliability.
Musk himself shrugged off the drama on X (formerly known as Twitter), his own social media platform, stating: “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed.”
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