If you planned to fly in or out of El Paso over the next ten days, either reschedule or start checking train and bus routes. In the past few hours, the FAA has issued a notice for all aviation to stay out of the El Paso International Airport and the surrounding area for "special security reasons."
What does that mean? The FAA hasn't explained it, and KVUE can't suss it out from air traffic control chatter either:
NBC News didn't get the full story either, but it did note just how serious this air closure will be:
The restriction for the airspace over El Paso and the neighboring community of Santa Teresa, New Mexico came in at 6:30 a.m. UTC, or coordinated universal time (11:30 p.m. ET). It will end at the same time on Feb. 21.
It did not elaborate on why the restrictions had been put in place for El Paso, which borders Mexico and is the the 23rd-most populous city in the nation according to the 2020 census.
But the NOTAM said the airspace was classified as national defense airspace. Deadly force could be used on an aircraft if it is determined that it “poses and imminent security threat,” it said, adding that pilots “may be intercepted, detained and interviewed” by law enforcement and security personnel.
Even the airport and airline staff didn't get told much. In fact, the American Airlines personnel in the airport first got notified by a passenger, according to USA Today:
At 2:30 a.m. (local time) Wednesday, Feb. 11, El Paso International Airport appeared nearly deserted. Employees on site said they were unsure what prompted the halt of all flights.
Noah Velasquez, a Lower Valley resident, was scheduled to depart for New York City at 7 a.m. Like many travelers, he was notified around midnight that his flight had been canceled.
Velasquez said he and other passengers were among the first to alert American Airlines to the situation at El Paso International Airport.
“American Airlines wasn’t even notified,” Velasquez said. “We were the ones who told them. It’s very confusing. I don’t know what’s going on either.”
What's happening? It's not an acute security incident. That might have explained the sudden ground stop for the airport, but not for ten days. Just for reference, the nationwide ground stop after the 9/11 attacks officially only lasted three days, although it started on a very limited basis after the third day. It also would not explain why the FAA is warning aircraft that the closure relates to national defense and that any intruders run the risk of being forced out of the air.
So what could be happening? The national-defense angle raises the possibility that the US plans military action in Mexico. Donald Trump has talked about striking the cartels, and the Juarez Cartel controls a lot of territory across from El Paso. It also could be some other threat to national security brewing across the border. The ten-day closure – which will cost airlines and the airport millions of dollars, mind you – indicates a major operation of some kind and of significant length, one that either risks civil and commercial aviation or an operation that cannot risk the interference that normal air traffic could create.
Whatever it is, it's big. It's not just a secure flight or two that could be handled with a pause of a few hours. Stay tuned, and we'll keep our eyes open for further developments.
Update: What in the actual ...
The Federal Aviation Administration reopened the airspace around El Paso International Airport in Texas on Wednesday morning, just hours after it announced a 10-day closure that would have grounded all flights to and from the airport.
The FAA announced in a social media post that it has lifted the temporary closure of the airspace over El Paso, saying that there was no threat to commercial aviation and all flights would resume.
This is so absurd as to be almost comical. What led the FAA to announce an unprecedented ten day ground stop in a significant flight area? Why did that change in the course of a few hours? The FAA could have simply called a ground stop for a few hours first and extended it if necessary. Instead, they grounded thousands of flights and tens of thousands of passengers, forced everyone to rearrange their travel choices in an anticipation of ten days of lockdown, only to get the Emily Litella shrug a few hours later.
Someone needs to answer for this, and right soon. And it better not be an Emily Litella answer, either.
Update: CBS News' Jennifer Jacobs reports that the FAA closed the airspace in reaction to an intrusion by drones from Mexican cartels. CNN reports that the military wanted to test "unmanned aircraft operations and laser countermeasure testing in airspace directly adjacent to civilian routes into El Paso International," presumably at nearby Fort Bliss. Neither explains the ten-day ground stop, nor its sudden cancellation within a few hours.
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