The grounding of aircraft at El Paso International Airport in Texas early Wednesday was in response to the testing of U.S. military technology that can be used to take down drones, according to four sources familiar with the matter.
The testing was taking place in the proximity of the airport, raising concerns within the Federal Aviation Administration, which responded by issuing a “Temporary Flight Restriction Notice,” the sources said.
Three of the sources said the testing, which was taking place near Fort Bliss, was of high-energy lasers that are designed to protect against drones from drug cartels that could cross over the U.S. border.
The Federal Aviation Administration halted all flights out of El Paso International Airport in Texas for 10 days for what it said were “special security reasons” before abruptly lifting the order.
It did not explain the about-face. A Trump administration official earlier told NBC News that Mexican cartel drones had breached American airspace and the Defense Department had disabled them.
There is no confirmation from the Pentagon that any drones were shot down, despite the statement from the administration official.
The military did recently shoot down a small party balloon, two of the sources said.
Two of the sources said there was a miscommunication, or possibly a dispute, between the FAA and the Defense Department about whether the testing could affect commercial aviation that preceded the grounding of aircraft at El Paso airport.
They said the FAA issued the temporary restriction until the agency could get more information about the testing or be assured it wasn’t affecting aviation.
Some lawmakers on Capitol Hill told defense department officials that the grounding of flights was due to a counter-drone exercise that was not coordinated with the FAA, according to a fourth source familiar with the matter.
El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson said the temporary flight restriction was unnecessary and “should have never happened.”
“This unnecessary decision has caused chaos and confusion in the El Paso community,” he said at a news conference. “You cannot restrict airspace over a major city without coordinating with the city, the airport, the hospitals, the community leadership. That failure to communicate is unacceptable.”
Johnson said medical evacuation flights had to be diverted to Las Cruces, about 45 miles away. All aviation operations, including emergency flights, were grounded, he said.
“This was a major and unnecessary disruption, one that has not occurred since 9/11,” he said.
The FAA had said in a “Notice to Airmen” that no flights would be able to operate in the airspace over El Paso and the neighboring community of Santa Teresa, New Mexico, for 10 days, from Feb. 11 to Feb. 21.
The FAA, which is only responsible for U.S. airspace, did not elaborate on why the restrictions had been put in place for El Paso, which borders Mexico and the city of Ciudad Juárez.
The notice said the airspace was classified as national defense airspace. Deadly force could be used on an aircraft if it is determined that it “poses an imminent security threat,” it said. Pilots that violated the order “may be intercepted, detained and interviewed” by law enforcement and security personnel, according to the notice.
The airport, which handled 3.49 million passengers in the first 11 months of 2025, confirmed the initial 10-day restriction in a travel advisory issued on social media, saying that all flights “including commercial, cargo and general aviation” were grounded.
The airport services major U.S. airlines, including Southwest, Delta, United and American.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said officials in her country had not seen evidence of drone activity along the border.
“If the FAA or any U.S. government agency has relevant information, they can ask the government of Mexico directly,” she said during her daily morning press conference. “There’s no place for speculation.”
The notice also seemed to take airport staff by surprise.
Shortly before it came into effect, a conversation between an air traffic controller at El Paso International and someone aboard a Southwest Airlines flight suggested the airport had only been notified in the past hour.
The conversation was captured by LiveATC.net, a website that monitors and allows people to listen to air traffic control conversations.
“Just be advised, I guess there’s a TFR going into effect,” the air traffic controller said, using the abbreviation for temporary flight restriction. “Just pass it on to Southwest and everybody else at 0630 for the next 10 days we’re stopped. All ground stop.”
Seemingly surprised about the closure, the person aboard the flight, Southwest WN1249, asks for confirmation. “So the airport is totally closed?”
“Apparently. We just got informed about 30 minutes to an hour ago,” the air traffic controller replied.
