Is Miami Airport closed? Latest update on Florida airports as flights delayed and passengers 'stuck on tarmac for two hours' after Elon Musk's rocket explodes

The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) grounded multiple flights at airports in Florida after Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket exploded during a test flight on Thursday (6 March). Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and Orlando airports were issued the notice because of "space launch debris" until 8pm (1am UK time). Departures at the four Florida airports were delayed by an average of 45 minutes due to the incident.

Miami Airport is still open but passengers are reporting that there are delays to flights. One user wrote on X: “Thanks Elon Musk and your stupid rocket. Now my flight to Brazil is delayed and I’m certainly not getting butt in the Miami airport Holiday Inn.“

Another said: “Been stuck on Miami airport tarmac for 2.5 hours. Please get these less blow-uppable. Many thanks“.

A third user shared how they were sat on the plane on the tarmac at Miami Airport when the pilot announced that flights were grounded. The user posted: “Pilot just announced @iflymia Miami International Airport shut down to all outbound and inbound flights because of rocket mishap nearby!”.

The FAA has since reportedly rescinded the grounding order for the airports in Florida. One passenger on a flight said he saw the SpaceX rocket blow up from his plane window. The user wrote: “Just saw Starship 8 blow up from our flight”.

Another user responded saying “that’s wild”. A third said: “Dangerous time to fly. Seems like an investigation would be appropriate.”

It was not immediately clear where the rocket came down, but images of flaming debris seen from Florida and the Caribbean were posted online. In a statement, SpaceX said: "During Starship's ascent burn, the vehicle experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly and contact was lost.

"Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses. We will review the data from today's flight test to better understand root cause. As always, success comes from what we learn, and today's flight will offer additional lessons to improve Starship's reliability."