FAA Shuts El Paso Airspace Over Drone Claim, Then Reopens It Hours Later

The Federal Aviation Administration halted air traffic over El Paso, Texas, late Tuesday in a closure first announced as lasting 10 days, then lifted it within hours on Wednesday, according to Al Jazeera, CBS News and NPR. The FAA cited “special security reasons” and warned that pilots who ignored the order “may be intercepted, detained and interviewed by law enforcement/security personnel,” and that deadly force could be used against an aircraft posing an imminent threat. After the reversal the agency said there was no threat to commercial aviation and that flights would resume as normal.

The administration said the closure responded to Mexican cartel drones that had entered U.S. airspace. A Trump administration official told NPR that the Defense Department disabled the drones, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the threat had been neutralized and there was no danger to commercial travel, according to Al Jazeera and CBS News. The Pentagon has not confirmed that any drones were shot down, NPR reported.

Other accounts point elsewhere. CBS News, citing multiple sources, reported that the closure followed a dispute between the FAA and the Pentagon over drone-related tests. According to CBS News and NPR, the Pentagon planned to test a high-energy laser counter-drone system near Fort Bliss, which abuts the airport. CNBC, citing a person briefed on the matter, said the two agencies had planned to discuss safety precautions later in the month but that the Pentagon wanted to use the technology sooner. CBS News and NPR also reported that a small party balloon was shot down earlier in the week after being mistaken for a drone.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government had seen no evidence of drone activity along the border, according to NPR and Al Jazeera. Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat whose district includes much of El Paso, called the decision unprecedented and said her office, the city and the airport received no advance notice, CNBC reported; CBS News reported that she said her understanding was that it was not caused by Mexican drones, which she called not unusual for the area. El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson said the restriction “should have never happened,” according to CBS News and NPR, and called it a “major and unnecessary disruption,” CNBC reported.

El Paso International Airport handled nearly 3.5 million passengers in the first 11 months of 2025, according to NPR and CNBC. The FAA lifted the order without explaining the reversal, NPR reported, and CNBC said the agency had not immediately explained either the security reasons or why the order was set for so long. The Pentagon declined to provide further details, CNBC reported.