Feb. 11 (UPI) — The Federal Aviation Administration ended what was initially announced as a 10-day suspension of all flights over El Paso, Texas on Wednesday, hours after closing the airspace.
The FAA stopped all incoming and outgoing flights over El Paso late Tuesday night, citing “special security reasons.” It warned that deadly force may be used against aircraft entering the airspace if they pose an “imminent security threat.”
The closure was triggered by military operations from Biggs Army Airfield in Fort Bliss, about seven miles away from El Paso.
CBS reported that Mexican cartel drones breached U.S. airspace, causing the Department of Defense to disable the drones.
“There is no threat to commercial aviation,” the FAA posted on social media. “All flights will resume as normal.”
When the airspace was closed, the FAA said that it was being classified as “national defense airspace.” The closure also halted medevac helicopters from flying.
“Just pass it on to everybody else, at 6:30 for the next 10 days, we’re all at a ground stop,” an air traffic controller informed pilots in audio recorded on LiveATC.net.
Some travelers received notifications from airlines about changes to their flights and offerings of travel waivers before the closure was lifted.
El Paso is home to the El Paso International Airport, which saw about 3.5 million travelers through the first 11 months of last year. The city has a population of about 700,000.
