Pentagon likely let CBP use anti-drone laser before airspace closure

The Pentagon allowed US Customs and Border Protection to use an anti-drone laser earlier this week, leading the Federal Aviation Administration to suddenly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas, according to two people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.

The confusing arc of events began as the FAA announced on Wednesday that it was shutting down all flight traffic over the city on the US-Mexico border for 10 days, stranding some travellers, but the closure ended up only lasting a few hours. The Trump administration said it stemmed from the FAA and Pentagon working to halt an incursion by Mexican cartel drones, which are not uncommon along the southern border.

 

One of the people said the laser was deployed near Fort Bliss without coordinating with the FAA, which decided then to close the airspace to ensure commercial air safety. Others familiar with the matter said the technology was used despite a meeting scheduled for later this month between the Pentagon and the FAA to discuss the issue.

While the restrictions were short-lived in the city of nearly 7,00,000 people, it is unusual for an entire airport to shut down even for a short time. Stranded travellers with luggage lined up at airline ticket counters and car rental desks before the order was lifted.

Normal flights resumed after seven arrivals and seven departures were cancelled. 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.

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".

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said he would request a briefing from the FAA on the incident.

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.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said earlier that the airspace was closed as the Defense Department and the FAA halted an incursion by Mexican cartel drones and "the threat has been neutralised".

Officials at the Department of Homeland Security, FAA and Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A Trump administration official insisted the agencies were in lockstep to protect national security and pointed to Duffy's statement. The Pentagon said it had nothing to add to its statement that largely mirrored Duffy's.

Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales, whose congressional district covers an area that stretches about 800 miles (1,300 kilometres) 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 organisations is everyday life for us. It's a Wednesday for us," Gonzales said.

Steven Willoughby, deputy director of the counter-drone programme 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 metres (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.

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 US authorities have more information, they should contact Mexico's government.

Mexican defense and navy secretaries planned to talk with officials from US 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 Juarez. 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 US 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.

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 travellers to deal with unnecessary chaos".

Travel plans on both sides of the border were disrupted.

Maria 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 am 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.