On Thursday, the leading Democrat on the Senate commerce committee criticized the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) temporary closure of El Paso airport due to safety issues related to a military laser-based anti-drone system, labeling it as unacceptable.
Late Tuesday, the FAA announced a 10-day closure for the airport in Texas after the Pentagon committed to implementing the anti-drone technology without finishing a safety assessment. However, just eight hours later, the FAA reversed its decision and lifted the shutdown.
Senator Maria Cantwell from Washington expressed at a hearing, “There is a significant coordination issue between the [Department of Defense] and FAA, and this needs to be addressed.”
According to two anonymous sources who spoke to the Associated Press on Wednesday, the Pentagon permitted U.S. Customs and Border Protection to utilize an anti-drone laser in the vicinity.
Republican Ted Cruz, left, and Democrat Maria Cantwell, right, are shown Tuesday at a committee hearing in Washington, D.C. Both senators expressed concerns about an hourslong closure at a major U.S. airport on Wednesday. (Annabelle Gordon/Reuters)
The abrupt closure of the 71st-busiest airport in the country, located near the Mexican border city of Juarez, left travelers stranded and interrupted medical evacuation flights. The FAA initially stated that the shutdown, affecting an airport that services four million passengers annually, was due to “special security reasons.” A 10-day closure for a single airport would have been an unprecedented measure.
Sources from the government and airlines, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, indicated that the FAA restricted airspace due to worries that an Army laser-based counter-drone system might endanger air traffic. Although a discussion was scheduled between the two agencies for February 20, the Army decided to proceed without FAA consent, prompting the FAA to suspend flights.
Senator Ted Cruz, the Republican chair of the commerce committee, expressed a desire for a classified briefing to gain clarity on the situation.
Original explanation questioned
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, responsible for the FAA, claimed that the closure was a response to drone activity involving a Mexican drug cartel. However, it is customary for a drone sighting near an airport to result in a short traffic halt rather than a prolonged closure.
Republican Representative Tony Gonzales, whose district spans approximately 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) along the Texas-Mexico border, noted that encounters with cartel drones are frequent.
“For those of us living and working on the border, daily drone incursions by criminal organizations are a routine occurrence. It’s just another Wednesday for us,” Gonzales remarked.
In July, Steven Willoughby, deputy director of the counter-drone program at the Department of Homeland Security, informed Congress that cartels are utilizing drones nearly every day for drug transportation and surveillance of Border Patrol agents.
He reported that more than 27,000 drones were detected within 500 meters of the southern border in the last six months of 2024, predominantly at night.
Mexican authorities, led by President Claudia Sheinbaum, also expressed skepticism regarding Duffy’s statement on Wednesday.
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This incident highlights ongoing issues of apparent confusion and communication breakdowns between the FAA and the Pentagon, reminiscent of an investigation into last year’s midair collision involving a commercial jet and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., which resulted in 67 fatalities.
Following that tragic event, the National Transportation Safety Board reported that it discovered the FAA and the Army had failed to exchange safety information regarding previous near-misses near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.
Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a former Army helicopter pilot who serves on committees related to aviation and armed services, stated that the incident on Wednesday exemplified “the pervasive lack of coordination present in this Trump administration.”
During the eight-hour closure at El Paso, fourteen flights were cancelled, comprising seven arrivals and seven departures, with some medical evacuation flights also being redirected.