FAA Abruptly Shuts Down El Paso Airport for 10 Days Over ‘National Defense’—Officials Don’t Know Why, But Here’s What It Could Be



The FAA issued a temporary flight restriction shutting down a 10-nautical mile radius around El Paso airport – near the border with Mexico – from ground level up to 18,000 feet. They did it with virtually no notice and it lasts for 10 days. It’s a nearly unprecedent move, classifying this as “National Defense Airspace.”

The restriction cites 49 USC 40103(b)(3) national defense and security authority over airspace with criminal charges for willful violation of a fine and up to 1 year imprisonment.

  • The notice invokes 14 CFR 99.7 “Special Security Instructions.” This genreally involves FAA acting pursuant to agreement with the Department of Defense or another federal security agency.
  • The El Paso airport is closed for arrivals and departures, but the area is not closed for overflight at cruise altitude (planes won’t generally have to be re-routed). There’s no carveout for law enforcement or military activity.
  • We don’t know why this is being done – and it’s unusual for its 10-day duration with mere hours of notice.
  • There’s very little option for travelers in the area. Las Cruces, New Mexico is about 35 miles away, served only by Advanced Air. Midland, Texas is a four hour drive away. Best bets are going across the border to Juarez, Mexico or driving to Albuquerque.

Here’s the FAA temporary flight restriction for 10 nautical miles around El Paso “for Special Security Reasons.” The airport posted to social media that they were closed as of Monday night at 11:30 p.m. – for 10 days.

Listen to air traffic control tell the pilot of arriving Southwest 1249 from Houston to El Paso that the plane and pilot… would not be leaving in the morning:

This is not the only flight restriction that has been put in place. (HT: JonNYC) The Santa Teresa restriction is not on the Santa Teresa airport (KDNA) but sits over the East Potrillo Mountains area.

Local officials were caught unaware.

So what’s possibly going on here?

  • The Wall Street Journal cites a prior notice of drone activity. A localized restriction below 18,000 feet fits where drones, shoulder-fired threats, and helicopter activity fit. The suggestion is that a security or intelligence agency is driving the request. This seems low-likelihood.
  • A classified Department of Defense operation. Two nearby restrictions look like an operational area and a transit secondary area. And it would explain ‘nobody will say why this is happening’. Obviously possibilities include activity related to immigration or drugs.
  • This doesn’t look like VIP movement, which would be shorter and would label the reason (e.g. the Presidential flight restriction over Palm Beach for the holidays).

The most obvious time an airspace restriction of this nature has happened was the nationwide shutdown and ground stop in the aftermath of 9/11. Even there, it lasted 3 days not 10 (though National airport in DC was closed for 23 days).

Since this is so unusual there’s naturally speculation over aliens, nuclear weapons, and myriad other conspiracies. Still, El Paso is 750 miles from Area 51.

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FAA Abruptly Shuts Down El Paso Airport for 10 Days Over ‘National Defense’—Officials Don’t Know Why, But Here’s What It Could Be
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Igor Jeuhan