By David Shepardson
(Reuters) – The failure of a SpaceX Starship test flight on Thursday scattered debris over parts of the Caribbean, prompting numerous flight diversions around Turks and Caicos and temporary ground stops at four Florida airports.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued ground stops for flights departing for Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Palm Beach airports for more than an hour before resuming normal operations at around 8 p.m. ET (0100 GMT on Friday).
Departures at those airports were delayed by an average of 45 minutes due to the SpaceX incident, the FAA said.
During the event, the FAA activated a debris response area “and briefly slowed aircraft outside the area where space vehicle debris was falling or stopped aircraft at their departure location. Normal operations have resumed.”
The FAA also said it is requiring SpaceX to perform a mishap investigation into the loss of the Starship vehicle.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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