why was airspace closed over el paso

Airspace over El Paso was briefly closed because the U.S. military was deploying and testing new anti-drone technology near the area, and aviation officials feared it could endanger civilian aircraft, especially at lower altitudes.

What actually happened

• Late on February 10–11, the FAA issued an emergency order halting all flights to and from El Paso International Airport and restricting flying below about 18,000 feet in a roughly 10-mile radius, citing “special security reasons.”

• The order was initially written to last 10 days, which is very unusual for a domestic airport, but it was lifted in under eight hours after intervention from senior administration officials.

• U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy publicly said the action was in response to a drone incursion tied to Mexican drug cartels and claimed the “threat has been neutralized.”

The drone and counter-drone angle

Reporting from multiple outlets and officials paints a more complicated picture:

• Defense Department units near the border had recently deployed a new laser-based anti‑drone system designed to knock hostile drones out of the sky.

• Earlier in the week, personnel apparently used this counter‑drone tech on what they believed was a cartel-operated drone, which later turned out to be a harmless party balloon; this incident highlighted how little coordination there was with the FAA.

• A follow‑on drone incident, described by officials as a cartel drone incursion, then became the trigger for the FAA to issue the sweeping airspace closure while the military system was active and aviation safety questions were unresolved.

In short, the closure was less about confirmed attacks on the airport and more about uncertainty : aviation regulators did not fully understand how the new anti‑drone system might interact with civilian aircraft, so they chose to clear the sky rather than risk a midair incident.

Why it caused so much confusion

Several factors made this a trending, “what is going on?” story:

• The FAA’s notice used vague “special security reasons” language without explaining the drone or military-technology angle, which fueled speculation on social media and in forums.

• Local airport officials and pilots reported getting almost no advance warning, even though the NOTAM suggested a 10‑day disruption.

• News and analysis pieces highlighted a breakdown in communication between the Pentagon and the FAA: a meeting on the new system had been scheduled for February 20, but the military used it operationally before that discussion happened.

One aviation-focused forum post, for instance, noted how unusual it was to see such a broad “special security” restriction without explanation and speculated about credible threats or sensitive operations near the border.

Is there one clear “why”?

There are two overlapping “whys,” and they both matter:

1. Immediate security justification
   • Officials framed it as a response to a suspected cartel drone threat near a critical border city, saying they needed to secure the airspace while the threat was addressed.

2. Safety and coordination failure
   • Investigative reporting and follow‑up briefings suggest the deeper driver was concern that the new laser-based anti‑drone technology had not been fully vetted for use around civilian traffic, and that the military moved ahead without giving the FAA time to assess the risk.

Put together, airspace over El Paso was closed because a new military anti‑drone system was being used in response to a suspected cartel drone incursion, and regulators were worried that continuing normal flights while that system was active could be unsafe.

TL;DR:
Airspace over El Paso was temporarily shut after the military activated a new laser-based anti‑drone system near the border during what officials called a cartel drone incursion, and the FAA, unsure how safe that system was for nearby civilian flights, chose to close low‑altitude airspace (initially for 10 days, but reversed within hours) under the label of “special security reasons.”

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.