The US military accidentally shot down a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) drone with a laser on Thursday, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to close the airspace near El Paso, Texas, according to multiple reports.
The FAA cited “special security reasons” in its notice expanding an existing prohibition on all flight operations near the border town of Fort Hancock – about 50 miles southeast of El Paso – through June 24, according to Reuters.
“A temporary flight restriction (TFR) was already in place around the Fort Hancock area,” an FAA spokesperson told The Post. “The TFR has been expanded to include a greater radius to ensure safety.”
The Federal Aviation Administration barred flights around the area of Fort Hancock, Texas, after a military laser-based anti-drone system was allegedly used by the Pentagon to accidentally shoot down a US government drone. via REUTERS
The FAA said the restrictions do not impact commercial flights.
In a joint statement, the Department of War, CBP and FAA said Thursday’s incident was aimed at taking out a “seemingly threatening unmanned aerial system.”
“At President Trump’s direction, the Department of War, FAA, and Customs and Border Patrol are working together in an unprecedented fashion to mitigate drone threats by Mexican cartels and foreign terrorist organizations at the US-Mexico Border,” the statement read.
“This reported engagement occurred when the Department of War employed counter-unmanned aircraft system authorities to mitigate a seemingly threatening unmanned aerial system operating within military airspace,” it continued. “The engagement took place far away from populated areas and there were no commercial aircraft in the vicinity.”
The Pentagon didn’t comment, but the FAA later said “special security reasons” was the reason why flights were halted across the area. AFP via Getty Images
“These agencies will continue to work on increased cooperation and communication to prevent such incidents in the future. The bottom line is the Trump Administration is doing more to secure the border and crack down on cartels than any administration in history.”
The use of high-energy, anti-drone lasers led the FAA to briefly ground all flights near the same area earlier this month.
A source familiar with the earlier incident told The Post that Department of Homeland Security special forces fired the laser at what was believed to be a cartel drone, but turned out to be a mylar balloon.
The latest incident left top Democratic lawmakers on committees overseeing aviation and Homeland Security issues fuming.
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“Our heads are exploding over the news that DoD reportedly shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone using a high risk counter-unmanned aircraft system,” Reps. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and André Carson (D-Ind.) said in a joint statement.
“We said months ago that the White House’s decision to sidestep a bipartisan, tri-committee bill to appropriately train C-UAS operators and address the lack of coordination between the Pentagon, DHS and the FAA was a short-sighted idea,” the lawmakers added. “Now, we’re seeing the result of its incompetence.”