CBP shot down party balloons with anti-drone tech before FAA closed El Paso airspace, sources say
Initially, a Trump administration official and some lawmakers said the airspace had been closed because the U.S. military had shot down a cartel drone. Administration officials maintain that was the case.
But the people familiar with the matter said that was not true, and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday there was no indication that any cartel drones were operating near the border.
It then appeared the airport grounding was in response to the testing of the technology by the military. But it has now become clear, according to the people, that it was CBP using it.
Separately, the Defense Department is testing similar laser weaponry that military personnel will potentially use to counter drones used by drug cartels.
That weaponry requires coordination with the FAA, and a meeting is scheduled to take place Feb. 20 to discuss safety and regulatory issues. The people familiar with the matter said that the meeting could help to explain why the FAA responded with the 10-day airspace closure.
El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson said the temporary flight restriction was unnecessary and “should have never happened.”
“This unnecessary decision has caused chaos and confusion in the El Paso community,” he said at a news conference. “You cannot restrict airspace over a major city without coordinating with the city, the airport, the hospitals, the community leadership. That failure to communicate is unacceptable.”
Johnson said medical evacuation flights had to be diverted to Las Cruces, about 45 miles away. All aviation operations, including emergency flights, were grounded, he said.
“This was a major and unnecessary disruption, one that has not occurred since 9/11,” he said.
The FAA had said in a “notice to airmen” that no flights would be able to operate in the airspace over El Paso and the neighboring community of Santa Teresa, New Mexico, for 10 days, from Feb. 11 to Feb. 21.
The FAA, which is only responsible for U.S. airspace, did not elaborate on why the restrictions had been put in place for El Paso, which borders Mexico and the city of Ciudad Juárez.
The notice said the airspace was classified as national defense airspace.
Deadly force could be used on an aircraft if it is determined that it “poses an imminent security threat,” it said. Pilots who violated the order “may be intercepted, detained and interviewed” by law enforcement and security personnel, according to the notice.
Jay Blackman and Brennan Leach contributed.
