SpaceX Explosion Nearly Takes Down Multiple Passenger Jets

Elon Musk’s dream of conquering space almost turned into an aviation nightmare. A SpaceX rocket test that spectacularly exploded over the Caribbean earlier this year reportedly sent debris scattering into the paths of multiple passenger jets — leaving roughly 450 people flying straight into chaos.

According to explosive new findings from the Federal Aviation Administration, air-traffic controllers were thrown into panic as Musk’s 400-foot Starship tore itself apart less than ten minutes after liftoff from Texas in January. The massive blast created a debris field so wide that commercial and private aircraft were suddenly flying through danger zones — with zero warning from SpaceX.

A JetBlue flight en route to San Juan was reportedly told it could continue “at your own risk.” An Iberia Airlines jet and a private plane had to swerve off course after getting dangerously close to each other amid the confusion. One pilot’s desperate “mayday” calls echoed over the radio before managing a shaky landing in Puerto Rico.

The FAA says SpaceX failed to notify air traffic control through the official hotline after the explosion. Instead, controllers in Miami learned about it from pilots who were already dodging falling debris.

It was the company’s seventh failed Starship test flight — and, once again, Musk’s response was pure bravado. “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed,” he joked on X (the platform he owns), just hours after his rocket nearly caused an aviation disaster.

The so-called “rapid unscheduled disassembly” came only days after Musk unveiled the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under President Trump’s administration — a move critics say highlights his growing taste for spectacle over safety.

For now, all three planes somehow landed without injury. But the FAA’s report paints a grim picture: SpaceX’s failures are no longer confined to the launchpad — they’re putting real lives in danger thousands of feet above the Earth.

Source: FAA Documents / Wall Street Journal / Reuters