El Paso International Airport: Cartel drones buzz US border skies, shut El Paso airport briefly. FAA lifts fast post-DoD takedown and no threats remain amid surging incursions.
Eerie drone swarm silhouette over El Paso runway at dusk, FAA grounding sign foreground cartel tech vs. U.S. skies clash (Photo: X)
El Paso International Airport: A rare incident of a security threat kept flights grounded on the Mexico-US border this week after unmanned aerial drones operated by Mexican drug cartels violated American airspace. As a result, the Federal Aviation Administration grounded flights to El Paso International Airport, one of the busiest in West Texas.
The FAA issued an announcement late Tuesday night about an emergency directive to stop flights going in and out of El Paso International Airport. Initially, this was to be carried out for as long as 10 days, covering a wide area along the Texas-New Mexico border. The issue has since been confirmed as an incident where cartel-operated drones invaded US airspace.
On Wednesday morning, however, things took a different turn at 9:00 a.m. local time, FAA issued an announcement concerning El Paso airspace restrictions, informing the public of their lifting. They confirmed the absence of any threat to commercial aviation operations, which meant the airports were opening sooner than anticipated.
Although the FAA’s screens still showed the limit for a moment, an official post on social media made clear that the temporary closure was over. Flights picked back up after less than 12 hours of disruption at El Paso International Airport, preventing possibly a long shutdown through February 21.
A senior American official reported that the Department of Defense was engaged in management of the crisis. Military units were sent to disable the drones as they entered American airspace. The authorities did not reveal the number of drones and the disabling measures since it is a matter of concern to American security.
The FAA indicated it would be focusing more intently on airspace security. In addition to the restricted airspace near El Paso, another restricted area will be created around Santa Teresa, New Mexico, just west of the city and these areas will be located within 300 miles of Tucson, Arizona.
The FAA said that the shutdown was for “special security reasons,” but offered only scant public details. Local leaders acted fast to calm residents with Congresswoman Veronica Escobar stressing there was no immediate danger to El Paso and that federal agencies had contained the situation overnight.
