Fact Check: Was a downed aircraft found in a cornfield near Minneapolis during FAA ground stop?

CORNFIELD, MINNEAPOLIS: Reports of a plane crash near Minneapolis spread on social media during a nationwide FAA ground stop, raising concerns about a possible aircraft accident. Posts claimed that a downed plane was found in a cornfield, with search teams at the site. This fact-check examines whether an aircraft was actually found and separates verified information from unverified reports.

Claim: Downed aircraft was found in cornfield near Minneapolis

The rumor originated on X (formerly Twitter), where several users shared claims about a downed aircraft near Minneapolis. One user posted, “#BREAKING: Downed aircraft reportedly found in cornfield near Minneapolis.” Another user wrote, “JUST IN: We're getting reports that a downed aircraft near Minneapolis has been found in a cornfield.”

Another user shared a more detailed version of the claim, stating that search teams had reportedly located the wreckage in a cornfield.

The post also claimed that officials had not released details about the type of aircraft, the number of people on board, or the circumstances surrounding the incident.

It further mentioned that first responders were at the scene and suggested that the reports emerged on the same day as a nationwide FAA communications outage that grounded departing flights.

Within two to three hours, these posts reportedly received more than three million views, leading several social media users to believe that the plane crash had actually occurred. The claims circulated amid the FAA's nationwide ground stop on November 13, which was later lifted.

Fact Check: False

The viral claim that a downed aircraft was found in a cornfield near Minneapolis during the FAA ground stop is false. However, a small plane did make an emergency landing in a field southeast of Minneapolis around the same time. The incident was not a crash and was not connected to the nationwide air traffic control outage.

According to KSTP 5 Eyewitness News, a small aircraft carrying two people made a controlled emergency landing in a field near 100th Street and Manning Avenue South in Denmark Township, near Cottage Grove, at around 4 pm on Friday, November 13, 2026. The Washington County Sheriff's Office confirmed that neither person was injured and the aircraft was not damaged.

Meanwhile, the FAA issued a nationwide ground stop shortly before 3 pm CT because of a temporary telecommunications outage affecting regional air traffic control centers nationwide. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin later confirmed that all flights already in the air were accounted for and landed safely.

Unverified air traffic control audio discussing a small aircraft running low on fuel and making an emergency landing in a field near Minneapolis also circulated on social media. However, users mistakenly linked this separate incident to the nationwide FAA ground stop, leading to rumors of a major plane crash or possible security threat.

Authorities reported no aircraft crashes connected to the telecommunications outage. The confusion between the emergency landing and the nationwide flight disruption appears to have fueled false claims circulating online.