Pentagon-FAA dispute over lasers to thwart cartel drones led to airspace closure, AP sources say

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The sudden and surprising airspace closure over El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday — first announced as extending for 10 days but lasting only a few hours — stemmed from the Pentagon’s plans to test a laser to shoot down drones used by Mexican drug cartels, according to three people familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of 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 for later this month to discuss the issue, the Pentagon wanted to go ahead and test the laser, prompting the FAA to shutter the airspace over the city on the U.S.-Mexico border. The laser was used at some point, one of the people said.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said earlier that the airspace closed as the Defense Department and the FAA halted an incursion by Mexican cartel drones and “the threat has been neutralized.” Drone incursions are not uncommon along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The restrictions were only in place for a couple of hours in the city of nearly 700,000 people, but it is unusual for an entire airport to shut down even for a short time. Stranded travelers with luggage lined up at airline ticket counters and car rental desks before the order was lifted.

Normal flights resumed in the morning after seven arrivals and seven departures were canceled. Some medical evacuation flights also had to be rerouted.

Jorge Rueda, 20, and Yamilexi Meza, 21, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, had their morning flight to Portland, Oregon, canceled, so they were losing part of their Valentine’s Day weekend trip.

Rueda said he was glad that “10 days turned into two hours.” They were booked on an evening flight out of El Paso.

A troubling lack of coordination

The investigation into last year’s midair collision near Washington, D.C., 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 with each other about the alarming number of close calls around Reagan National Airport and failed to address the risks.

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a former Army helicopter pilot who serves 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.”

Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat whose district includes El Paso, said neither her office nor local officials received any advance notice of the closure. After it 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 at a news conference.

Officials at the White House, FAA and Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the dispute. The Pentagon said it had nothing to add to its statement that largely mirrored Duffy’s comment.

Cross-border drone activity is not new

Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales, whose congressional district covers an area that stretches 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 everyday life for us. It’s a Wednesday for us,” Gonzales said.

Steven Willoughby, 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 said, mostly at night.

What is “extremely rare” is the closure of an entire airport over a security issue, according to a former chief security officer at United Airlines.

Officials usually will try to take security measures to isolate the risk if a specific plane or airline is threatened rather than shut down the airport, said Rich Davis, now a senior security adviser at risk mitigation company International SOS.

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 a meeting Wednesday in Washington attended by several other countries, Sheinbaum told reporters. Sheinbaum said the Mexican officials would “listen” in the meeting and her government would look into “the exact causes” of the closure.

El Paso is a 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 the U.S. side of the border.

That easy access to the United States also has 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’

People stand in line at check-in counters Wednesday at El Paso International Airport in El Paso, Texas. Photo by Morgan Lee/AP Photo

El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson told reporters that he did not hear about the closure until after the alert was issued.

“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 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.

Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, a New Mexico Democrat, said in a statement that he was seeking answers from the FAA and the Trump administration “about why the airspace was closed in the first place without notifying appropriate officials, leaving travelers to deal with unnecessary chaos.”

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.

Kim, Finley and Jalonick reported from Washington, and Funk from Omaha, Nebraska. Associated Press writers Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas; 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 to this report.

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