FAA closes El Paso airspace after CBP uses anti-drone laser

As air travel resumed in the El Paso area after a brief shutdown of airspace, officials were still trying to explain how the incident unfolded and why it disrupted flights for a community along the U.S.-Mexico border. The FAA closed airspace over El Paso on Wednesday for several hours after a separate defense operation involving an anti-drone laser earlier this week, according to two people familiar with the situation who spoke anonymously to discuss sensitive details.

The people said the Pentagon allowed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to use the anti-drone laser before the FAA coordinated its own actions. One person said the laser was deployed near Fort Bliss without coordinating with the FAA, prompting the FAA to close the airspace to ensure commercial air safety. Two other people said the laser was used despite a meeting scheduled for later this month between the Pentagon and the FAA to discuss the issue.

In public statements, the Trump administration framed the episode as a response to drone activity along the southern border. The administration said the shutdown stemmed from the FAA and Pentagon working to halt an incursion by Mexican cartel drones, which officials said are not uncommon along the border. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy later said the airspace was closed as the Defense Department and the FAA halted an incursion by Mexican cartel drones, and that “the threat has been neutralized.”

The disruption included a flurry of last-minute changes for travelers and some rerouting of flights. The FAA’s restrictions, announced as a 10-day shutdown of all flight traffic over the city, ended up lasting only a few hours. Flights resumed after seven arrivals and seven departures were canceled, and some medical evacuation flights were rerouted. Jorge Rueda and Yamilexi Meza, both in their early 20s and from Las Cruces, New Mexico, said their flight to Portland, Oregon, was canceled, with the episode affecting part of their Valentine’s Day plans; Rueda said he was glad that “10 days turned into two hours.”

Critics pointed to a lack of coordination between agencies and said they had not received advance notice. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a former Army helicopter pilot serving on committees focused on aviation and the armed services, said the Wednesday incident reflected “the lack of coordination that’s endemic in this Trump administration.” Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz said he would request a briefing from the FAA on the incident, and Rep. Veronica Escobar said neither her office nor local officials received advance notice. After the closure was lifted, Escobar said, “the information coming from the federal government does not add up,” and said “the FAA owes the community and the country an explanation as to why this happened so suddenly and abruptly and was lifted so suddenly and abruptly.”

The episode also landed in a wider context of scrutiny over how the FAA and the defense and military side share aviation safety information. The National Transportation Safety Board has said the FAA and the Army did not share safety data with each other after a midair collision last year near Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people, and did not address close-call risks around Reagan National Airport. In Wednesday’s episode, officials said the closure was short-lived, but former airline security officials said a full airport shutdown is unusual even when security concerns arise. Rich Davis, a former chief security officer at United Airlines and now a senior security adviser at risk mitigation company International SOS, said officials typically isolate risk rather than shutting down an entire airport.

Cross-border officials questioned the explanation that the closure was tied to a drone threat. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she had “no information about the use of drones on the border,” and told reporters that if U.S. authorities had more information, they should contact Mexico’s government. She said Mexican defense and navy secretaries planned to talk with officials from U.S. Northern Command in a meeting in Washington on Wednesday attended by officials from several other countries, and that Mexican officials would “listen” and her government would look into “the exact causes” of the closure.

El Paso local officials also criticized the handling of the interruption. Mayor Renard Johnson said he did not hear about the closure until after the alert was issued, adding, “Decisions made without notice and coordination puts lives at risk and creates unnecessary danger and confusion,” and that “This was a major and unnecessary disruption, one that has not occurred since 9/11.” In a separate example of ongoing restrictions nearby, a similar 10-day temporary flight restriction for special security reasons remained in place Wednesday around Santa Teresa, New Mexico, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) northwest of the El Paso airport, and FAA officials did not immediately explain why it remained.

For travelers crossing the border, the timeline created confusion as messages arrived early and then changed after the airspace reopened. María Aracelia was pushing two roller suitcases across the pedestrian bridge from Ciudad Juarez to El Paso on Wednesday morning and said she received a text at 4 a.m. about the 10-day closure, prompting her to scramble for alternatives, including trying to reach another airport. She said another notification came after that alert, stating that the El Paso airport had reopened. “This is stressful, and there isn’t time to make so many changes, especially if you need to get back for work,” Aracelia said.