The sudden and surprising airspace closure over El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday stemmed from the Pentagon’s plans to test a laser for use in shooting down drones used by Mexican drug cartels, according to three people familiar with the situation who were granted anonymity to share sensitive details.
That caused friction with the Federal Aviation Administration, which wanted to ensure commercial air safety and the two agencies sought to coordinate, according to two of the people.
Despite a meeting scheduled later this month to discuss the issue, the Pentagon wanted to go ahead and test the laser, prompting the FAA to shutter the airspace. It was not clear whether the laser was ultimately deployed.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said earlier that the response by the Defense Department and the FAA to neutralize an incursion by Mexican cartel drones had led to the airspace closure. Drone incursions are not uncommon along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Officials at the White House, FAA and Department of Transportation did not respond immediately to requests for comment about the dispute. The Pentagon said it had nothing to add to its statement that largely mirrored Duffy’s comment.
The investigation into last year’s midair collision over the Potomac River between an airliner and Army helicopter that killed 67 people highlighted how the FAA and Pentagon were not always working well together. The National Transportation Safety Board said the FAA and the Army did not share safety data about the alarming number of close calls around Reagan National Airport with each other and failed to address the risks.
Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a former Army helicopter pilot who serving on committees focused on aviation and the armed services, said the issue Wednesday was the latest example of “the lack of coordination that’s endemic in this Trump administration.”
The FAA had originally announced a 10-day closure of the El Paso airspace, confusing travelers at the airport in the border city with a population of nearly 700,000 people. The order was lifted a few hours later and normal flights resumed after 14 were canceled. No part of Mexican airspace was closed. Before the order was lifted, local newscasts showed stranded travelers with luggage lining up at airline ticket counters and car rental desks.
Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat whose district includes El Paso, said neither her office nor local officials received any advance notice, and after the closure was lifted she said “The information coming from the federal government does not add up.”
“I believe 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,” Escobar said during a news conference.
Cross-border drone activity is not new
Rep. Tony Gonzales, whose district covers an area that stretches for about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) along Texas’ border with Mexico, said cartel drone sightings are common.
“For any of us who live and work along the border, daily drone incursions by criminal organizations is every-day life for us. It’s a Wednesday for us,” Gonzales said.
Steven Willoughby, the deputy director of the counter-drone program at the Department of Homeland Security, told Congress in July that cartels are using drones nearly every day to transport drugs across the border and surveil Border Patrol agents. More than 27,000 drones were detected within 500 meters (1,600 feet) of the southern border in the last six months of 2024, he testified, mostly at night.
Mexican officials question the explanation
Asked about the drone explanation provided by U.S. officials, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she had “no information about the use of drones on the border.” She noted that if U.S. authorities have more information they should contact Mexico’s government.
Mexican defense and navy secretaries planned to talk with officials from U.S. Northern Command in Washington on Wednesday in a meeting attended by representatives of several other countries, Sheinbaum said during a news conference. Sheinbaum said the Mexican officials would “listen” in the meeting and that her government would look into “the exact causes” of the closure.
El Paso is hub of cross-border commerce alongside Ciudad Juárez. That Mexican city is home to about 1.5 million people, and some of its residents are accustomed to taking advantage of facilities including airports on both sides of the border. That easy access to the United States has also made Juarez, like other border cities, attractive to Mexico’s drug cartels seeking to safeguard their smuggling routes for drugs and migrants headed north and cash and guns moving to the south.
‘This was a major and unnecessary disruption’
El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson said at a news conference that he did not hear about the closure until after the alert was issued. He said the failure to communicate that to the city was unacceptable.
“Decisions made without notice and coordination puts lives at risk and creates unnecessary danger and confusion,” Johnson said. “This was a major and unnecessary disruption, one that has not occurred since 9/11.”
The airport describes itself as the gateway to west Texas, southern New Mexico and northern Mexico. Southwest, United, American and Delta are among the carriers that operate flights there.
A similar 10-day temporary flight restriction for special security reasons remained in place Wednesday morning around Santa Teresa, New Mexico, which is about 15 miles (24 kilometers) northwest of the El Paso airport. FAA officials did not immediately explain why that restriction remained in place.
Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M, said in a statement that he was seeking answers from the FAA and the administration “about why the airspace was closed in the first place without notifying appropriate officials, leaving travelers to deal with unnecessary chaos.”
Shutdown and restart creates confusion for travelers
Travel plans on both sides of the border were disrupted.
María Aracelia was pushing two roller suitcases across the pedestrian bridge from Ciudad Juarez to El Paso on Wednesday morning. She had a round-trip flight to Illinois scheduled for the afternoon.
After receiving a text at 4 a.m. telling her about the 10-day closure, she scrambled to try to find other options, even how to get to another airport. Then came a notification 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.
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Lee reported from El Paso, Texas and Funk from Omaha, Nebraska. Associated Press writers Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas; Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska; Darlene Superville, Mike Balsamo and Konstantin Toropin in Washington; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; María Verza in Mexico City, and Christian Torres Chávez in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, contributed.
