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Updated\u00a0<\/p>\nUpdated\u00a0<\/p>\n
Feb. 11, 2026, 11:08 a.m. ET<\/p>\n
Officials on Wednesday offered conflicting explanations for a temporary closure of airspace over El Paso, after the Federal Aviation Administration rescinded an order issued hours earlier to ground flights for 10 days.<\/p>\n
Sean Duffy, the Secretary of Transportation, and officials from the White House and the Pentagon said Mexican cartel drones breached U.S. airspace, prompting the temporary closure of airspace over El Paso. But two people briefed by Trump administration officials said the shutdown was prompted by the Defense Department\u2019s use of new counter-drone technology and concerns about the risks it could pose to other aircraft in the area.<\/p>\n
Initially, the agency cited \u201cspecial security reasons\u201d late Tuesday night, halting all flights to and from El Paso International Airport for 10 days and isolating a major American metropolitan area from air travel. The closure, which appeared to surprise state and local officials, went into effect at 11:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday and was lifted a little before 7 a.m. on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no threat to commercial aviation,\u201d the agency said on social media. \u201cAll flights will resume as normal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Representative Veronica Escobar, an El Paso Democrat, pushed back on the drone explanation given by Trump administration officials, saying at a news conference it was \u201cnot the information that we in Congress have been told.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cThere was not a threat, which is why the F.A.A. lifted this restriction so quickly. The information coming from the administration does not add up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Renard Johnson, the mayor of El Paso, said at a news conference that many local officials remained unclear why the agency took such a drastic action, and that the \u201cfailure to communicate is unacceptable.\u201d He said it resulted in a series of chaotic events around El Paso, including medical evacuation flights forced to divert to Las Cruces, N.M., a city about 45 miles to the northwest.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis unnecessary decision has caused chaos and confusion in the El Paso community,\u201d Mr. Johnson said. \u201cI want to be very, very clear that this should\u2019ve never happened. You cannot restrict air space over a major city without coordinating with the city, the airport, the hospitals, the community leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what else to know:<\/p>\n
Counter-drone program: In July, Steven Willoughby, deputy director of the counter-drone program at the Homeland Security Department, testified before Congress and asked lawmakers to continue the program. He said that 27,000 drones had flown within about 1,650 feet of the border over six months in 2024, piloted by organizations hostile to law enforcement. He did not go into detail on the nature of the anti-drone technology the department was testing.<\/p>\n
Airport: The airport in El Paso, the 23rd-most populous city in the nation according to the 2020 census, serves a vast swath of West Texas and eastern New Mexico and offers direct flights to hubs across the southwestern United States, as well as to cities like Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and Seattle. The nearest major U.S. airport is in Albuquerque, about 270 miles away.<\/p>\n
Disrupted travel: Alex Torres, 42, was among the travelers who arrived at the airport unaware that flights had been grounded. Ms. Torres, who was expecting to fly to New York for business, said she spoke with an American Airlines representative on the phone who had yet to hear the news. \u201cThey didn\u2019t know anything about the airport being closed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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