The Federal Aviation Administration reopened the airspace over El Paso, Texas, early Wednesday after shutting it down over “special security reasons” apparently rooted in confusion with the Defense Department.
The U.S. military was planning to test a high-energy laser on a military base in the El Paso area that could be used against drones, two congressional officials told MS NOW. The FAA abruptly issued a 10-day closure Tuesday night for air traffic in the area upon learning about those plans, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, however, said the FAA and the Defense Department “acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion.”
“The threat has been neutralized, and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region,” said Duffy, whose department includes the FAA.
The congressional officials said there was no mention of drones, just the laser test, when members of Congress were briefed early Wednesday on the reason for the airspace closure.
El Paso officials said Wednesday they weren’t given advance notice from the FAA and they still are unaware of what caused the sudden closure.
“This unnecessary decision has caused chaos and confusion in the El Paso community. I want to be very, very clear that this should have never happened,” Mayor Renard Johnson said. “You cannot restrict airspace over a major city without coordinating with the city.”
El Paso International Airport typically handles thousands of flights each month.
The closure lasted around seven hours.
Johnson said medical evacuation flights were forced to divert to Las Cruces, New Mexico — a city less than a quarter the size of El Paso and nearly an hour’s drive away.
He stressed that the closure put “lives at risk and creates unnecessary danger and confusion.”
David Rohde
David Rohde is the senior national security reporter for MS NOW. Previously he was the senior executive editor for national security and law for NBC News.
Ebony Davis is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked at CNN as a campaign reporter covering elections and politics.