A student pilot sought guidance from air traffic control during a nationwide interruption to U.S. air traffic on Nov. 13, 2026, while on his first long-distance solo flight. (Foto: Instagram)
A student pilot was unsure what to do after a nationwide interruption to air traffic in the United States on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. He was on his first long-distance solo flight when air traffic control advised him to land.
In a recording of the exchange, the pilot told the controller, “This is my first long-distance solo flight, and I honestly don’t know what to do.” He said he had departed from Hicks Airfield in Fort Worth, Texas. The controller asked where he wanted to land and recommended he return to Hicks as soon as possible.
The pilot asked whether he had clearance to land there. The controller said she could not authorize a landing at Hicks, but advised him to switch to the airport’s information frequency and offered to connect him with approach control. She also warned that there was other traffic near Hicks, including helicopters.
The pilot said he had already switched frequencies and spoken with personnel at the airport, and asked whether the issue was nationwide. The controller confirmed that nothing was wrong with Hicks itself and again recommended that he land. The pilot said he would do so and would switch back to Hicks. The ATC account on X shared the recording on Nov. 13, describing the student pilot as caught in the air during the outage.
