Overview
- Newly released FAA documents say the January 16 Starship failure created a “potential extreme safety risk” to aircraft in the region.
- Falling debris crossed parts of the Caribbean for about 50 minutes as a JetBlue flight, an Iberia jet, and a private aircraft carrying roughly 450 people faced difficult routing choices.
- Two flights declared fuel emergencies and a pilot issued a “Mayday” to secure landing clearance in San Juan; all affected aircraft landed safely.
- Controllers learned of the debris from pilot reports rather than SpaceX’s required hotline notification, and workload spikes led two planes to fly dangerously close before intervention, according to the records.
- The FAA convened a debris‑risk review that was later suspended in August, while SpaceX disputes the media portrayal as misleading and says pre‑coordinated hazard areas kept aircraft safe.