BREAKING: FAA temporarily halts all flights at international airport for ‘special security reasons’

1

UPDATE 9:40 a.m. ET: The FAA has now mysteriously lifted the shutdown of the El Paso Airport, only hours after it was announced.

The FAA announced on X, “The temporary closure of airspace over El Paso has been lifted. There is no threat to commercial aviation. All flights will resume as normal.”

ORIGINAL REPORT BELOW:

From the New York Times: The Federal Aviation Administration late Tuesday halted all flights to and from El Paso International Airport for 10 days for “special security reasons,” isolating a major American metropolitan area from air travel.

In a move that appeared to surprise state and local officials, the restriction went into effect at 11:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday and will remain in place until 11:30 p.m. on Feb. 20.

The restriction encompasses a 10-mile area around El Paso, and includes the neighboring community of Santa Teresa, N.M., but does not apply to aircraft flying above 18,000 feet, the F.A.A. notices said. They did not detail the security reasons that prompted the restriction.

The airport issued a travel advisory on social media saying that all flights to and from the airport had been grounded, including commercial, cargo and general aviation. It told travelers to contact their airlines for the latest flight information.

The F.A.A. said in the announcement that the federal government “may use deadly force” if an aircraft violating the airspace is determined to pose “an imminent security threat,” and warned that pilots “may be intercepted, detained and interviewed” by law enforcement and security personnel.

The major carriers that operate out of El Paso are American Airlines, United, Delta, and Southwest. According to NBC News, the last flight to arrive before the airspace closed was an American Airlines flight from Chicago which landed at El Paso International at 10:57 p.m. local time Tuesday. The next flight was diverted to the nearest U.S. airport, Las Cruces, New Mexico.

The airport announced on social media, “*** TRAVEL ADVISORY *** All flights to and from El Paso are grounded, including commercial, cargo and general aviation. The FAA has issued a flight restriction halting all flights to and from El Paso effective from February 10 at 11:30 PM (MST) to February 20 at 11:30PM (MST). Travelers should contact their airlines to get most up-to-date flight status information.”

No one appears to have an answer as to the reason for the mysterious 10-day closure of the airport.

City council member Chris Canales wrote in a post on Facebook:

I’ve been up all night trying to get information to share with the public, but we’re just not getting much from the federal government at the moment.

We have no reason to believe that there is any kind of imminent safety threat to El Paso, but we still have no reason provided by the FAA or any federal authority, and that lack of explanation is obviously fueling fear and speculation in our community. FAA contacts, including those at the phone number listed in the notice, have said they also don’t know the reason.

What’s especially troubling is that there appears to have been no advance notice to local government, airport leadership, or even local Air Traffic Control or local military leadership.

If El Paso International Airport has to close for 10 days, the economic hit to El Paso could be $40-50 million or more.

I will continue pushing for answers and will share updates in the comments on this post as soon as I am able.

Some social media users are commenting that they don’t ever remember anything like this happening since the 9/11 terror attack.

READ MORE from the New York Times.

Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter.)
The DML News App: www.X.com/DMLNewsApp

The Dennis Michael Lynch Podcast archive is available below, with the most recent on top. Never miss an episode. Subscribe to the show by downloading The DML News App or go to Apple Podcasts.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

CLICK HERE FOR COMMENTS SECTION