Officials Claim Drone Incursion Led to Shutdown of El Paso Airport

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/us/faa-el-paso-flight-restrictions.html

by edward • 5 months ago

366 511 5 months ago

Latest archive link: https://archive.is/Qdq4x

bashtoni• 5 months ago

According to CNN the entire airspace is closed, not just the airport https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/11/us/faa-el-paso-texas-flig...

lisper• 5 months ago

Yep. TFR was issued three hours ago.

https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2233

dlcarrier4• 5 months ago

It's closed below 18,000 ft, over a 10 nautical mile radius: https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2233

whizzter• 5 months ago

"Special security reason", sounds like a prelude to a special military operation?

c4205• 5 months ago

Underground nuclear test and trying to mitigate the EMP grounding proximate planes?

extraduder_ire• 5 months ago

Why wouldn't that be announced in advance? It'll be detectable internationally as soon as it happens.

bobthepanda• 5 months ago

An underground nuclear test is going to happen within ten miles of El Paso airport? Sounds unlikely

FrankBooth• 5 months ago

EMP from an underground blast? Ok bud.

npiano• 5 months ago

EMPs only occur in very high altitude tests

euroderf• 5 months ago

You mean like, a three-day invasion of Mexico ?

lazide3• 5 months ago

Or just stirring up a bunch of ICE noise at the border.

3D30497420• 5 months ago

Further commentary/speculation on this Reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/ADSB/comments/1r1pqnp/10_day_tfr_is...

It includes a local city Councilmember who's says he is working to get more information.

KnuthIsGod• 5 months ago

Launching the invasion of Canada and Greenland perhaps..

r721• 5 months ago

Invasion of Mexico is also possible ...

President Donald Trump said US forces will "start now hitting land" in Mexico targeting drug cartels

https://www.euronews.com/2026/01/09/trump-says-us-to-start-n...

(Jan 2026)

sph3• 5 months ago

Aren't those countries thousands of miles away from El Paso, Texas?

donkeybeer3• 5 months ago

Cuba could be one. While Florida is closer, it's possible due to El Paso being considered highly isolated.

mikkupikku12• 5 months ago

Please understand, Geography is only taught for optional extra credit in American schools.

(I wish this were a joke.)

lvspiff3• 5 months ago

Well you take this sharpie and draw a line and bam direct line of attack - if it works for hurricanes it will work for war plans

c4205• 5 months ago

"A person familiar with the notices, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly, said the action to close airspace over a major U.S. for security reasons over extended period hasn’t happened since immediately after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001."

https://elpasomatters.org/2026/02/11/unexplained-faa-order-s...

dlcarrier4• 5 months ago

It shows how bad the lack of available sources is, when they interview someone familiar with the type notice in general, but not this specific notice.

dlcarrier4• 5 months ago

Here's a direct link to the notice: https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2233

Temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) tend to be pretty terse, but they do usually call out "VIP" if they're due to someone visiting.

The type listing of "security" gets thrown around a lot, though. For example there's a permanent security TFR around the closest Air Force base to me (https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_5_8746) because they regularly fly unmanned aircraft that can't fly in insufficiently controlled airspace, and the standard airspace layout around an airport of that size isn't sufficient, so instead of making special rules for that airport, there's a "security" TFR to give air-traffic controllers extra control of what would normally be uncontrolled airspace.

It is pretty unusually to get such a short notice, and to not have instructions for exemptions.

seanf• 5 months ago

No exemptions for medical life flights, local law enforcement, or even the military. You can read a more normal NOTAM posted for New Orleans likely for Mardi Gras (https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2231)

As a Minnesotan I wonder what this does to the deportation flights going to and from Camp East Montana.

heythere22• 5 months ago

https://archive.is/GCep9

metalman• 5 months ago

There is a slim possibility that if it was airtraffic control equipment upgrades, but that would be put in the bullitin and known about long in advance, that it is just imposed with no warning is wrong and just shows how the FAA is becoming more 3 letter every day.

altairprime5• 5 months ago

I wonder if this was issued by the VP’s Secret Service to the FAA directly; they got caught last year fucking with DC airspace using a beacon spoofer, and they would (presumably, they’re the SS) have the authority to issue these secretly without having to be named and answer for the impact: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/aviation-flights-whi...

(See also Die Hard 2, I suppose.)

But: of the “less simple than invading Mexico” theory (which would be trivial to confirm or refute with binoculars and telescopes) I think the nuclear testing theory is more likely, as it would be in character for the current U.S. administration to decide to turn a border region radioactive to both decrease both the quantity of, and the median fertility of, those who cross the border, especially following posturing about health care costs. Presumably the U.S. does not view itself as liable to Mexico for across-the-border downwinder’s treatment costs. Not seeing a spike in KI prices in a couple spot checks, though.

Hopefully it’s something offensive enough to finally get the world to embargo Palantir.

altairprime5• 5 months ago

I did not have “airspace closed for ten days to shoot down a drone with lasers” anywhere on my bingo card. Huh. When life gives you lemons, file a TFR about it, I suppose.

altairprime5• 5 months ago

Correction: Party ballon.

Shank• 5 months ago

Nuclear weapons test? The latest test treaty just expired.

Edit: There are two TFRs, one in El Paso and one right next to it in the mountains: https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2234

baubino• 5 months ago

This was my thought as well given the length of time of the closure.

karlkloss• 5 months ago

3.6 roentgen you say?

massysett• 5 months ago

Wouldn’t the Nevada Test Site be much better for this? Huge, government controlled, no major airports or cities, and moreover, already used for this sort of thing.

dboreham2• 5 months ago

No because there's no enemy there to shoot at.

K0balt• 5 months ago

Probably just closing the airspace for the space alien emissary.

c4205• 5 months ago

Welcome. Tremendous to have you here. Really historic. Some people said it couldn’t happen, but I said keep an open mind, and now look. Intergalactic diplomacy. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it. We’re ready to make a deal, a fair deal, maybe the best deal in the galaxy.

Stevvo• 5 months ago

I think not; it's not somewhere you can conduct a nuclear test without starting a war with Mexico. However it is interesting to look at the TFR area in Google maps; it looks just like a nuclear test site, but the craters are natural volcanoes.

lazide3• 5 months ago

Mexico isn’t going to start a war with the US. it would last a week at most, and they’d end up glowing even more than if the us ‘downwinded’ them all year.

IsTom• 5 months ago

Well, somebody has suggested nuking a tornado before. Why not a vulcano?

einrealist• 5 months ago

Reminds me of this: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-plot-plant-bombs-c...

El Paso is a hub for cargo. Probably takes some days to go through all that parcel.

roysting2• 5 months ago

I wonder if the dormant volcanic field west of El Paso that is covered by the TFR may be similar to Iranian volcanic mountains?

Remember, the Netanyahoo just arrived in the US mere hours before this and it is always a bad omen when the devil comes to collect.

einarfd• 5 months ago

Could it be that USA government believe that Iran might be trying to do something similar to the Ukraine operation spiderweb, where they attacked the Russian long distance bomber fleet with short distance FPV drones? While there aren't bombers at Fort Bliss. As far as I know there are other high value targets.

mikkupikku12• 5 months ago

Probably the least unhinged theory in this thread, but unfortunately it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. If they had intel about such a threat, they'd have to move all high value assets to another base pronto. A flight ban won't stop a shady box truck from rolling into town and releasing a swarm of small drones.

(It would also be uncharacteristic of Iran to actually attack America directly, on American soil. Try to find examples of Iran doing that and you'll come up quiet short.)

roysting2• 5 months ago

You may want to recalibrate things. That’s just about the most unhinged theory here. So “Iran” is just going to go “well, shucks, I guess we can’t launch our drone swarm now that they issued a TFR.”

Not even to mention you’re ignoring the TFR far outside and away from El Paso over the Potrillo volcanic mountains

sylware2• 5 months ago

"Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker"

lbreakjai• 5 months ago

Well surely they wouldn't block flights for ten days because of ad blockers?

pixl972• 5 months ago

Ads are pretty risky, it could happen

wavemode• 5 months ago

If there were some mundane reason for the shutdown (e.g. ATC staffing, or volcanic ash) it wouldn't be a secret, and if there were an emergency (one severe enough to ground all aircraft for so song) we would've heard or seen something.

Occam's Razor says, this order came down from Trump. If that's the case, only question remaining would be what is he planning.

AnimalMuppet2• 5 months ago

Well, if the only comparable antecedent is closing American airspace after 9/11, and that order came down from Bush, it seems reasonable to suppose that this order came down from Trump.

As for why? No clue.

sph3• 5 months ago

Maybe there's credible threat of MANPADs from the cartels? Wouldn't be the first time around, apparently.

https://old.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1r1s4zt/faa_groun...

mikkupikku12• 5 months ago

Stopping life flights though? The supposed risk of cartels shooting down a helicopter vs the immediate risk of "this guy is going to die if we don't fly him to the nearest trauma center"... That risk calculus doesn't make sense.

gsk22• 5 months ago

To be fair, risk calculus does not appear to be this administration's strong suit.

EwanG• 5 months ago

According to postings on a couple Reddit discussions, this surprised the El Paso city council among others:

https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1r1r7tu/what_does...

and

https://www.reddit.com/r/ADSB/comments/1r1pqnp/10_day_tfr_is...

dathinab7• 5 months ago

speculations are it's either related to ICE or drug cartel investigations

The former has a long history of not cooperating with local authorities (also in ways I personally think are sometimes quite malicious but that is off topic). Und normal circumstances ICE would never have the power to lead to a shut down of air space, but with the current administration who knows.

And drug cartel investigations won't cooperate with the city council as an investigation big enough to shut down airspace wouldn't want to risk it leaking by speaking with a city council about it.

But this is a pretty big deal and lets hope this is just about preventing some high ranking drug cartel members from fleeing and not some retaliatory horror story implicitly triggered by the repeated public rejections and denouncements of Trump in recent week. Like if we look at full (and violent) dictatorships(1) you would expect an internet outage to follow and then a lot of people to die.

(1): To be clear no the US is not a full blown violent dictatorship. Even through things are bad, they are not "that" bad. Through IMHO there seem to be people in the government which want to make it exactly that bad.

expedition32• 5 months ago

The president has way too much executive power. In my country everything is decided by a cabinet meeting in America one man orders and everyone obeys.

RIMR• 5 months ago

To be clear no the US is not a full blown violent dictatorship.

The key word you forgot here is "yet".

Even through things are bad, they are not "that" bad.

They will get "that" bad if you take on the attitude that things aren't that bad.

IMHO there seem to be people in the government which want to make it exactly that bad.

We should act accordingly then.

shaky-carrousel2• 5 months ago

They probably lost a nuke in the area. Wouldn't be the first time.

pandemic_region• 5 months ago

Honest question: do you mean it was stolen or it fell out of the plane by accident or something like that?

fabian2k• 5 months ago

There is a circular restriction around the airport and a trapezoid one next to the city (https://elpasomatters.org/2026/02/11/unexplained-faa-order-s...).

What are the plausible explanations here? I can't think of anything except military action against Mexico (or the cartels inside Mexico). But even that doesn't fit well.

A suspected terror attack could explain the airspace around the airport, but not the weird trapezoid restriction next to the city.

The duration of 10 days is also weird, that seems very long for any kind of emergency situation. And as far as I understand, it is unusual to have no exceptions at all here e.g. for medical transports via helicopter.

mothballed4• 5 months ago

Most plausible comment I found on the internet was the government lost something in that trapezoid and doesn't want anyone to fly over it and find it until it's collected.

RupertSalt3• 5 months ago

Ah, so an alien's contact lens

morkalork• 5 months ago

Quick, someone call Skinner and get Mulder and Scully on the case!

thebruce87m• 5 months ago

Broken Arrow?

viraptor2• 5 months ago

The not-totally-crazy ideas from Reddit include:

- it's related to the annouced GPS disruption test (although that's a really long time and doesn't seem urgent enough)

- someone in Mexico is getting kidnapped by Gov

- nuclear tests

I wish those were crazy ideas, but here we are...

RupertSalt3• 5 months ago

GPS disruption

Ah, a very plausible explanation!

https://avbrief.com/overnight-gps-testing-affects-huge-area-...

The map indicates it will be centered on Lampasas and the region of effect seems to be east of El Paso. So, if the GPS exercises are the cause, the TFRs would've been more likely to bring in Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio.

Isn't it possible that a 10-day TFR could be lifted early once the concern is past? They've probably made it 10 days just to establish an upper bound.

throw0101a• 5 months ago

- it's related to the annouced GPS disruption test (although that's a really long time and doesn't seem urgent enough)

Those are done regularly without TFRs. See recent example in Texas:

* https://avbrief.com/overnight-gps-testing-affects-huge-area-...

A link to a list of notices at:

* https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/gps-service-interruptions

bdbdbdb2• 5 months ago

I don't know which Reddit thread you're reading (there are many I'm sure) but the one in r/Aviation seems to have a favourite theory that there was a credible threat of someone with MANPADS, which are shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles and not some sort of sanitary product.

Apparently they have a ceiling of 18,000ft which is exactly the limit of the restriction in El Paso. Aircraft are allowed fly over if they go above that

tootie3• 5 months ago

I honestly assume it's something petty. Like an El Paso air traffic controller was rude to a deportation flight pilot.

nateburke2• 5 months ago

My guess is nuclear test.

Airport circle to secure the transport of the device to the ground adjacent to the test site.

Trapezoid is the test site, wider on the side that is less controllable (border-facing).

Disconnected because two separate teams executed in parallel without informed oversight.

estearum3• 5 months ago

... I don't think they're detonating a nuclear weapon in a National Monument 50 miles from a large US city...

There are plenty of better places for them to do this.

kakacik2• 5 months ago

While Mexican side has no restrictions - that would be supremely dumb even for a primary school level of thinking. Tons of civilians dead with clear reason who caused it, completely preventable.

Fantasy often likes extreme options but most probably saner reason like expected strike on cartels and their retaliation is whats happening.

elictronic• 5 months ago

Probably laser shootdown of drug carrying drones.

superb_dev• 5 months ago

Another interesting note, the trapezoidal TFR is still in place

october8140• 5 months ago

Strike on Mexico incoming.

m4ck_• 5 months ago

Anything to distract from Congress getting unredacted access to Trumps good friend's files/emails and naming 6 of their potential clients.

codeduck• 5 months ago

Am I hallucinating? Wasn't there just an identical thread on the front page not even an hour ago?

altairprime5• 5 months ago

Email the mods and they’ll check and merge the dupes :)

baq4• 5 months ago

You aren’t, probably was flagged down by not being hacker enough (or more likely for being an open invitation to runaway speculation without any grounding in reality and facts)

watwut• 5 months ago

Proper hackers are interested in homeschool propaganda, but not in closed airspace.

graemep• 5 months ago

This also seems to be an open invitation to runaway speculation.

A lot of the speculation is ridiculous given only a small area has been closed. That is not a prelude to war, for example!

uncivilized• 5 months ago

You've just described every comment section on HackerNews.

debo_• 5 months ago

*runway speculation

baq4• 5 months ago

Millions of dollars of stuck planes and cargo. If it was somebody’s fantasy, it sure was an expensive one - but I’m not sure I want to know what it was if it was a real thing

anilakar• 5 months ago

Don't worry. Mexico will pay for it 100 %.

thinkcontext• 5 months ago

Probably $Bs. Around 100 flights per day from there, so there would be dozens of planes on the ground.

markus_zhang• 5 months ago

Aliens? I want to believe...

voxadam• 5 months ago

Judging by the previous actions of this administration — Operation Metro Surge 2: Tex-Mex Boogaloo

vincnetas• 5 months ago

Map :

https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_0091

guerrilla10• 5 months ago

It seems like you linked to a different area on the border to Mexicali?

dathinab7• 5 months ago

that link shows the wrong blocked airspace in my case

(it shows that some areas above the border in the desert are blocked off, which makes sense to fight drug smuggling by drones without risking mistaking drones with aircrafts)

but he article is about the new circular zone directly placed over El Paso with El Paso International Airport directly in it's center. (Interestingly because they used a circle it technically covers the Mexican side of the boarder including a part of the airport on their side, but practically FAA can't shut down Mexican airspace so it's misleading).

Also worth noting there is:

- Holloman Air Force Base

- White Sands Missile Range

- Fort Bliss

- Fort Bliss McGregor Range

direct besides the city

so a Military exercise, or deployment of Military (Trump has said he will bomb cartel hideouts in Mexico) can be added to the list of possibilities

imglorp3• 5 months ago

This one's responding.

https://skyvector.com/?ll=31.836456906566234,-106.7029640846...

incomingpain• 5 months ago

https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2233

This isnt a particularly special thing. It's a catchall rule and given the identical one to the west, it looks like a common military one.

baq4• 5 months ago

Neither military nor medevac is exempted. This is unusual.

SketchySeaBeast3• 5 months ago

The medevac is scary. This could cost lives. Hopefully there's a reason but, given how clumsy this admin is, who can say?

u1hcw9nx2• 5 months ago

Action to close airspace over a major city in the US for security reasons over extended period hasn’t happened since 9/11.

10 day closure for security reasons seems really long.

edit: Same restriction imposed around Santa Teresa, New Mexico. ~15 miles northwest of the El Paso airport.

le-mark2• 5 months ago

El Paso is the 6th largest city in Texas so not “major” but certainly large.

SirFatty• 5 months ago

Ft. Bliss is there as well...

u1hcw9nx2• 5 months ago

25th largest in the United States.

meindnoch• 5 months ago

Crashed alien vehicle recovery?

xyst• 5 months ago

Has anybody checked the pizza/chinese takeout traffic in DC?

w0de02• 5 months ago

Nothing unusual - DOUGHCON 4: https://www.pizzint.watch/

bdbdbdb2• 5 months ago

To me the trapezoid suggests something traveling south fell in the area. Narrow at the top, wide at the bottom.

Maybe they dropped a nuke by accident (again)

kijin• 5 months ago

That looks like a rather flat trapezoid for something that fell from high above.

With a fast-moving object, we can usually tell its trajectory across the map much more accurately than we can tell where along that trajectory it impacted the ground. See: MH370.

jjk1662• 5 months ago

The area they would expect to find it would be much narrower than the area they would expect a plane overhead to be able to observe it.

daemonologist• 5 months ago

Maybe fits the "DoD is shooting something at some kind of incoming drone" explanation - they know they're shooting _from_ the top of the trapezoid but in terms of direction, only that they're vaguely facing south. (Doesn't really explain why the TFR doesn't extend into Mexico though.)

con• 5 months ago

FAA closed another airspace nearby: https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2234

- From February 11, 2026 at 0630 UTC (February 10, 2026 at 2330 MST)

- To February 21, 2026 at 0630 UTC (February 20, 2026 at 2330 MST)

My guess is nuclear tests

dathinab7• 5 months ago

it's too spontaneous for that

it it's "just" a training exercise or test they could have announced the closing weeks or month before it happening massively reducing the cost fallout from it

not that the current administration has in generally acted with care when it comes to causing huge financial damage to US cities, especially such they don't like

vjvjvjvjghv• 5 months ago

“For special security reasons”. Is a “special military operation “ following? Maybe somebody in Mexico said something mean about the president.

But seriously, is this normal without any explanation? The cost must be enormous.

dathinab7• 5 months ago

it's in general highly abnormal

which kinda makes it normal to not have a explanation

because anything abnormal enough to cause something like that is also likely something kept secret until it's done

(Like large scale operations against drug cartel, "special military operation", or a large scale ICE operation which shouldn't be able to cause this but does because the current administration is uh, what it is.)

Havoc• 5 months ago

My money is on misplaced black budget project craft

Maybe that new F-47 did a trump and fell asleep somewhere in the desert

cucumber37328422• 5 months ago

That's kind of what I'm thinking too though my money would be on something like "super secret stealth cruise missile ripped off it's mounting pylon" or control software went crazy rather than an airframe loss.

It's likely be something small enough and with little/no fuel because if it left a big smoking hole they'd find it quick. And it's gotta be something with fairly questionable aerodynamic properties (i.e. damaged) or questionable guidance (i.e not an inadvertently released bomb) otherwise they'd have a very good idea of where it landed.

dathinab7• 5 months ago

But they didn't block the desert, only air zone and also only directly above the city not beyond it.

JumpinJack_Cash7• 5 months ago

The entire conspiracy theory industry is praying that the closure runs its course for the established 10 days and then everything is re-opened and the reasons behind the closure are not further explained or even better become classified

Not saying this isn't suspect though.

lilytweed2• 5 months ago

As someone else mentioned, there’s some speculation in aviation subreddits that the bounds of the altitude restriction map to the MANPAD capabilities that some cartels are purported to have.

https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1r1s4zt/comment/o...

My read is that the admin is planning forceful strikes on the cartels within Mexico and is worried about their ability to retaliate by taking down US aircraft across the border.

Edit: The closure has now been kiboshed. The wording seems a little “don’t panic-y” to me, but better that than the alternative! https://x.com/FAANews/status/2021583720465969421

derbOac• 5 months ago

Would that account for the trapezoidal shape of the one restricted area?

torpfactory3• 5 months ago

My bet is a showy armored advance though the open terrain near there… it’ll look great on camera! /s

mothballed4• 5 months ago

It seems crazy not to just, tell people that if that's what it is. "Hey if you are flying above 18,000 please don't go lower because you could be blown up by a MANPAD."

If the cartels have MANPADS then our intel is already blown by issuing the TFR, so what's the harm in just saying it out loud?

gordonhart• 5 months ago

Mass panic? Think of how wildly it would be misrepresented in the media and how disruptive it would be to all air travel in the country. People aren't rational actors and the most sensationalized headline is what ends up spreading

spacephysics• 5 months ago

For your first point, on the off chance they have other equipment capable of surpassing MANPADS I’d prefer as a passenger they just fly around.

Second point, it’s not obvious if its for MANPAD reasons or it’s our own operation though we can speculate.

Eddy_Viscosity2• 5 months ago

Even Cartels know that shooting down civilian aircraft in US airspace would be an escalation that would lead to heavy retaliation. Doesn't seem likely to me.

lilytweed2• 5 months ago

Good point. I guess it depends on the force, size, and especially effectiveness of any potential strikes. (i.e. How cornered a cartel might feel and how much flexing an outsized response might stand to gain them.)

estearum3• 5 months ago

Mistakes happen though

mothballed4• 5 months ago

Unless the government is planning an attack on the cartel[s] that is so existential that such action wouldn't be considered an escalation but rather a tic for tat.

A trapped animal will generally use all its facilities regardless of its expected effectiveness.

mattmaroon• 5 months ago

Unless we start bombing them first. That’s not hard to imagine these days.

reactordev7• 5 months ago

Coming from groups that just pickup busses of people to murder, I wouldn’t be so sure that firing back at the US would be out of the question.

philistine2• 5 months ago

If that aircraft held a person they wanted dead, I would not put it past them.

bpodgursky• 5 months ago

Yes that might be the high-level logic, but if you give a MANPAD to a 19 year old sicario on meth, accidents do happen.

duped3• 5 months ago

Yea you have to be a nation state like Israel, Iran or Russia to blow civilian aircraft out of the sky with no retaliation.

torpfactory3• 5 months ago

My read is most likely some kind of strike on the cartels. There hasn’t seemed to be any significant US military buildup so it’s something they’ll be able to do with a smaller force.

The trapezoid makes me worried about a ground incision there- it extends to the border and would be a cover space for an invasion force. Absolutely bonkers that we are even having this discussion.

The TFR is most likely contingency planning for possible retaliation by cartel drones and the need to keep the airspace clear so they can see (with radar) and shoot down drones and not passenger aircraft.

grosswait• 5 months ago

You are the first person to mention invasion. Kind of bonkers to jump to that conclusion.

matthewaveryusa• 5 months ago

What’s also bonkers is our political whimpiness that allowed this to happen, right? If there is a drone response it’s pretty damning evidence that we are way too dovish in our policy against drug smuggling up until now

pigbearpig• 5 months ago

"Maybe, or maybe FL180 is a nice clean line for class A airspace. No need to bother transcontinental flights for a local issue."

Way more plauible

petesergeant• 5 months ago

What does that mean sorry?

satiated_grue• 5 months ago

FL180 is the floor of Class A airspace, "the flight levels", where airliners etc. operate.

Relevant chapter from FAA "Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge": https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/17_phak_ch15.pdf

In the "Flight Levels", altitudes are referred to not in feet above sea level but as "FLxxx" where xxx is a nominal altitude in 100s of feet.

Altimetry is done using barometric pressure. Since this varies with weather, airplanes at lower altitudes set their altimeters to the local barometric pressure for a reasonably accurate reading. In the flight levels, where planes are typically covering ground quickly and there is very little chance of your path conflicting with the surface of the Earth, every plane sets to an agreed-upon reference of 29.92 inches of mercury as the altimeter setting.

omgJustTest• 5 months ago

Knowing the restriction goes to 18k certainly says that either S-A or A-S reach must be limited but the as your post points out no buffer between MANPAD actual range and the limit imposed. I think unlikely to say MANPAD, specifically.

There's a small private airfield to the west with only a single victor airway connecting to el-paso. the victors end at 17999 ft, effectively cutting traffic for non-commercial or non-business jet operators.

Closure of the victor airway there seems, again limiting airborne craft due to airborne hazards.

Hazards in the air, near the surface that are, seemingly, unplanned with a cone pointing at mexico.

That's kind of the most anyone will get until more info, could be some urgent testing of some capability or response to small craft (drones) coming over the boarder. Emergency timing could be to garner interest or emphasize importance, which works well politically.

Las Cruces International Airport and Dana Jetport are unaffected.

timbre1234• 5 months ago

The restriction goes to 18k because that's the top of VFR space. Anyone operating above 18k has to be on an IFR clearance and under positive ATC control. That makes it easy for the feds to make a call and say "Hey, center, get everyone out of this airspace" wheras in the VFR altitudes it's very difficult for them to legally clear the space since a VFR plane could be flying around not talking to anyone.

ErroneousBosh2• 5 months ago

I only know about Las Cruces from the Organ Mountain Outfitters training material in the DaVinci Resolve sample footage. Sadly they closed a few months ago, which is a shame because I never got my arse in gear to order a shirt from them.

duxup• 5 months ago

Shooting down civilian American aircraft like that would seem to just be for an even more strong response…

Seems unlikely.

guerrilla10• 5 months ago

They would want to avoid escalation. Escalation with cartels historically does not go well for anyone involved.

m4rtink3• 5 months ago

If only this was a certainty - Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down with 298 people killed 12 years ago but still no one was directly punished for it...

JumpinJack_Cash7• 5 months ago

Of course, the US elected the only celebrity of the 80s and 90s who hates blow.

On the other hand a careful analysis of the plumbing system of Trump's Tower and Trump's Hotels in general would reveal possibly the highest concentration of coke than any other building in the world considering the intersection of wealth and istrionic personalities who called those apartments home at one time or the other.

Fate sure loves irony

Besides I would go to my grave claiming that racism is particularly strong in the war on drugs, if coca grew plentiful and naturally in the US and Europe it would not be illegal at all.

But it's scary because uh ohh inssulfation of an extract of a plant coming from the global south we are all gonna die, somebody will please think of the children.

But hey you can gulp 60 oz of super strong energy drinks which equate to about 5-6 fat lines, matter of fact you can gulp 600 oz and cause yourself a heart attack and nobody would bat an eye or investigate the safety profile of such drinks

It's the same old story with alcohol too

frumplestlatz2• 5 months ago

But hey you can gulp 60 oz of super strong energy drinks which equate to about 5-6 fat lines

Are you joking?

Look, I’m no stranger to drugs, but coke is not a “60oz energy drink” and its potential for generally destroying someone’s life is, while not at the same level, definitely in the same ballpark as crack, heroin, and meth.

Spooky23• 5 months ago

Sounds like a great way to reinforce the "We ready to move along from Epstein" narrative.

danesparza• 5 months ago

I think it's simpler. It's going to make the cartel drones easier to spot.

dylan6047• 5 months ago

Do you think the cartels won’t see this news? If this is all it was, the cartels can just wait 10 days and start up again.

cameldrv• 5 months ago

Doing a closure up to 18k feet is common because that's where class A airspace starts, i.e. you need a clearance to go there, you can't just fly around VFR wherever you want. The airspace above 18k might not be officially closed, but controllers can be instructed to just not give a clearance into whatever area they deem is unsafe on a particular day.

hackernudes• 5 months ago

Today I learned: Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) are shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missiles designed for use by individuals or small teams to engage low-flying aircraft, helicopters, and UAVs.

Nathanael_M• 5 months ago

The percentage of comments written primarily for the purpose irrational political ranting is frustrating, considering the genuinely interesting nature of the story.

array_key_first2• 5 months ago

It's not irrational to assume current statements from this particular government are not true. If anything, it's irrational to just believe what you're told. We're well past the point where lies outnumber truths, so if you're a betting man, you should assume what you've been told is not true.

The speculation, however, is just that. But, I think we all understand that the reason this was done is not for the reasons stated, and there is something else going on that we are not privy to.

nnnnico• 5 months ago

More likely to be related to the E Files than the X ones

imglorp3• 5 months ago

E-File? Like, taxes?

ahhhhnoooo2• 5 months ago

Epstein files.

t1234s• 5 months ago

Downed UAP recovery?

dathinab7• 5 months ago

doesn't need commercial air space lock down, at most private/small low altitude/drone plain lock down

chasd002• 5 months ago

Some drug cartel probably bought a SAM and they’re trying to find it.

JumpinJack_Cash7• 5 months ago

What are the odds that Claudia the President of Mexico has already been extracted now?

exegete• 5 months ago

Live camera of runway https://app.truelook.cloud/dashboard/581/980/live

Linked from airport website: https://elpasointernationalairport.com/live-cameras/

1e1a• 5 months ago

poor PTZ mount :(

sriram_malhar• 5 months ago

"Wag The Dog" movie all over again. Sure looks like deflection from the Epstein Files and economy.

sva_• 5 months ago

Airline sources told Reuters the grounding of flights was believed to be tied to the Pentagon's use of counterdrone technology to address Mexican drug cartels' use of drones of the U.S.-Mexico border.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-halts-all-flights-texass...

guerrilla10• 5 months ago

I personally don't think that's the whole story. They're likely going to act against the cartels to take out cross-border drone capabilities and are preparing for S-A retaliation as well.

morpheuskafka3• 5 months ago

A cartel using a SAM against a US civilian aircraft would massively solidify public opinion against them just like 9/11 or the Iran hostage crisis. The US has been trying to extent the "foreign terrorist" label and casus belli to drug activities forever to justify military operations (ex. the "arrest" of Maduro was for drugs, not oil/Cuba/political stuff). That would be a massive self-own on the cartels part. (And if it did happen, just like 9/11, it would be used as justification for anything even remotely immigration or drug related at every level.)

TitaRusell2• 5 months ago

What does that even mean? Cartels can buy those DJI drones from China by the container load.

Russia and Ukraine can't stop drones. Does the US have a secret weapon?

anigbrowl4• 5 months ago

What cross-border drone capabilities, drug deliveries? People are talking like the cartels are conducting Ukraine-style drone warfare and blowing up Americans on the regular. Let's stick to a factual baseline here.

datsci_est_20157• 5 months ago

This admin is focused on the message of stopping the inflow of drugs to the US. There are probably some true believers, and there are probably some reactionary accelerationists. There’s also significant evidence of amateurism, misinformation, and incompetence.

All of that coming together, I see this action coming out of meeting where

  - one party was convinced that this would solve the fentanyl epidemic
  - one party was hoping this would escalate military action in Mexico
  - one party was convinced that America had lost its masculine bravado and taking swift and unprecedented action like this would make their wife respect them again
  - one party was busy making “bets” on Kalshi

RiverCrochet3• 5 months ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut3I6gFmlls

delaminator3• 5 months ago

reactionary

they want to overthrow the Jacobites

accelerationists

how's that going to work ?

matthews3• 5 months ago

bets

Investments on Kalshi!

morpheuskafka3• 5 months ago

one party was busy making “bets” on Kalshi

This would arguably be much more severe -- and quite likely already happening -- than the whole "congress trading stocks" thing because most of those (besides the sports ones) tie very directly to government actions in a way that the economy or a large company in generally doesn't as predictably.

sowbug3• 5 months ago

If the US wanted to end the fentanyl and xylazine and nitazene epidemic, it would legalize the controlled manufacture, sale, and usage of the drugs being adulterated. This won't happen, because the 50-year-old War on Drugs is a load-bearing pillar of the US government.

dylan6047• 5 months ago

--one party was hoping we'd stop talking about Epstein

datsci_est_20157• 5 months ago

Watching the dynamics of the vote count on this post throughout the day has been interesting.

belter2• 5 months ago

"FAA abruptly lifts order halting El Paso airport flights for 10 days" - https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/11/faa-el-paso-airport.html

don't attribute to security concerns...what can be explained by incompetence...

boringg3• 5 months ago

. "The FAA and DOW acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion.

The threat has been neutralized, and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region.

The restrictions have been lifted and normal flights are resuming."

https://x.com/SecDuffy

noelsusman2• 5 months ago

Doesn't really pass the sniff test. Why would you need a 10 day closure to deal with a drone incursion?

I'm guessing DoD and the FAA were squabbling over a test the military wanted to run, and it didn't go up the chain fast enough to get resolved before testing was scheduled to begin.

Edit: Here's the actual notice from the FAA[1]. Note that it was issued at 0332 UTC, but the restrictions weren't scheduled to go into place until 0630 UTC. Either the FAA is clairvoyant, or Sean Duffy is lying.

[1]https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2233

dragonwriter• 5 months ago

“Threat” might be an exaggeration.

https://www.newsweek.com/us-military-shot-down-party-balloon...

assaddayinh• 5 months ago

Drug smuggling shaheeds close to the ground..

ndiddy• 5 months ago

Looks like they shot the drone down with a laser:

UPDATE (CNN): Source briefed by FAA tells me that military activity behind the El Paso flight ban included unmanned aircraft operations and laser countermeasure testing in airspace directly adjacent to civilian routes into El Paso International. Airspace restriction just lifted.

https://x.com/petemuntean/status/2021586247827828812

lysace5• 5 months ago

Good thing they allocated 10 days of airspace shutdown for taking out a single (edit: or a few) drone(s).

I get the feeling this was a case of really wanting to test a new weapon combined with general organizational dysfunction for something unusual like this.

On CNN, they talked about how a shutdown like this would be the first time something like this has happened since 9/11. Is that really correct?

tclancy• 5 months ago

Well this could get ugly. https://x.com/Acyn/status/2021613820553335090

outside1234• 5 months ago

The only confirmed thing they have shot down was a child's birthday balloon

cozzyd• 5 months ago

During the ICE surge in Chicago drone traffic was banned for a while but this is obviously much more extreme if for a similar reason. Note that at least on some roads out (I'm most familiar with the road to Carlsbad from El Paso since I used to have to travel there in grad school, often from ELP) there are already CBP checkpoints.

baggachipz• 5 months ago

El Paso is in a very Red state, ICE involvement is minimal there.

fallingmeat• 5 months ago

guys. it's aliens. nbd.

dummydummy1234• 5 months ago

If it was aliens trump would be telling everyone and taking credit for finally telling the people the truth.

dylan6047• 5 months ago

No, he’d be rounding them up and deporting them. Have you not been reading the news lately?

philipwhiuk2• 5 months ago

BREAKING: A source briefed by FAA tells me the El Paso flight ban was driven by military operations from Biggs Army Air Field at Fort Bliss https://x.com/petemuntean/status/2021573468341383284

chasd002• 5 months ago

Probably an attempt to embarrass the admin. Now watch for the orangemanbad articles about a reckless military operation personally planned by the president in the middle of the night on X.

Hah im trying to be tongue-in-cheek but I have to admit that doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility actually lol

durge• 5 months ago

Could be a window for a bunch of deportation activity? It's not very low profile if that's the case.

ubermonkey• 5 months ago

If a reasonable administration took this step without any justification, I'd have serious questions.

Under this administration, I'm very very concerned that it's cover for something deeply nefarious.

philipwhiuk2• 5 months ago

FAA has rescinded the TFR - looks like a possible DoD goof in relation to army exercises, leading to the FAA being overcautious.

Noaidi2• 5 months ago

They lifted the restriction:

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/11/faa-el-paso-airport.html

TACOs…..

utf_8x• 5 months ago

The closure has been lifted: https://x.com/FAANews/status/2021583720465969421

wocka• 5 months ago

The Federal Aviation Administration said it had lifted the temporary closure of airspace over El Paso that it had imposed last night. “All flights will resume as normal,” the F.A.A. said on social media.

huevosabio• 5 months ago

What a bizarre move.

baq4• 5 months ago

Reminds me of the chaos monkey. Building resilience by breaking and fixing stuff.

Not sure if applicable here, though.

thomasjudge• 5 months ago

Closure rescinded https://x.com/FAANews/status/2021583720465969421

Trasmatta• 5 months ago

So bizarre

Why the 10 day announcement overnight only to totally rescind it before the majority of US citizens wake up and read the news?

embedding-shape• 5 months ago

Hoping it slips under other news like "Woah someone else should pay for this wall/bridge/investigation" so no one really notices it. To be fair, seems most things are about trying to direct the news somewhere else, most of the times being successful at that too.

spaceywilly3• 5 months ago

Hanlon’s Razor

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

Someone probably just screwed up

fluidcruft3• 5 months ago

NYT reports they're claiming it was about testing anti-drone tech at Fort Bliss.

The brief shutdown was related to a test of new counter-drone technology by the military at nearby Fort Bliss Army base, according to a person briefed on the matter.

LanceH• 5 months ago

If you shut it down for too long and there is a lapse in reopening it, planes are grounded for an extra bit of time.

If you shut it down for too short and there is a lapse in extending the grounding, planes are getting shot out of the sky (or whatever threat it was).

edit: I would add that maybe there are forms for shutting down airspace of various specific time lengths and a convenient time for something of unknown duration would be 10 days. 10 days might also be enough time to be sure whatever resources need to be brought to bear on this are available where an hour or day might not be. Shut it down basically indefinitely, or at least long enough that the crew who handles this extraordinary situation will be on hand to turn it off.

diogenes_atx3• 5 months ago

WTF? The FAA announces a ban on all flights at an international airport and then withdraws the ban within a few hours of the announcement? What kind of insane police state would try a stunt like that? Even for the Trump administration, that is setting the bar at a new low.

2OEH8eoCRo0• 5 months ago

I think the military did a thing without telling the FAA so they had to guess?

lingrush4• 5 months ago

Trump needs to be impeached immediately for this. How dare he close airspace and then just lift that closure once the danger has passed.

joezydeco• 5 months ago

You should have been here a month ago. The FAA halted all air traffic to and from the Caribbean region with no explanation (well, duh) and no announcement of a resume date. Then it was lifted 24 hours later with no notice.

infecto2• 5 months ago

Will be interesting when/if more information is released. I am not sure why folks are so surprised or think it’s shocking. While definitely out of the norm, my mind was immediately thinking 10 days seems like an even number where you are trying to find or do something, not sure how long it’s going to take so you just stick it. Certainly odd that it’s only a few hours but for all I know there is some written government procedure for whoever is doing that sets it at 10 days.

belter2• 5 months ago

don't attribute to security concerns...what can be explained by incompetence...

idontwantthis• 5 months ago

Or alcoholism

state_less• 5 months ago

The explanation given is that cartel air drones entered US airspace.

I guess my question is, doesn't this happen all the time? I would think drones would be an easy way to fly a Kilo over the border to whatever dropspot you wanted. I wonder what the new wrinkle is?

camillomiller• 5 months ago

agricultural drones used for spraying can lift up to 60-80kg payloads.

uyzstvqs• 5 months ago

The smuggling is nothing new. Sounds like they're testing laser-based countermeasures against them now.

[0] https://x.com/petemuntean/status/2021586247827828812

guerrilla10• 5 months ago

I guess my question is, doesn't this happen all the time?

Yes, all the time.

MiguelHudnandez• 5 months ago

I think it's worth correcting the record here because drone warfare is pretty different from what actually happened. What they identified and shot down was a mylar party balloon.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/airspace-closure-followed-spat-...

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-military-shot-down-party...

tootie3• 5 months ago

I got zeros votes amongst the mass speculation over lost nuclear weapons or military experiments but I was pretty close to correct with my guess. Just picked the wrong people.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46972610#46974380

burnt-resistor2• 5 months ago

It was reported on Democracy Now! that an anonymous source said the military representing Biggs Army Air Field at Fort Bliss (KBIF) couldn't guarantee safety of commercial air traffic around El Paso International Airport (KELP). There was no specific details communicated and the message released caused unnecessary panic. The most likely explanation seems to be an unresolved dispute between the military and the FAA related to improving airspace safety around military flight tracks near major airports (class B/C/D airspace).

burnt-resistor2• 5 months ago

Another source from Thom Hartmann mentioned the military was testing counter-drone lasers and failed to inform the FAA. Seems like the FAA used unreasonable collective punishment to passive-aggressively chastise the military publicly.

theonlyjesus• 5 months ago

I'm from El Paso. This is bullshit if I've ever heard. There are no fucking drones around here, especially not from cartels. The only criminal cartel here is ICE.

bloomingeek• 5 months ago

NPR just announced the El Paso airport is back online for air travel.

weirdsweatsuit• 5 months ago

Representative Veronica Escobar, an El Paso Democrat, said in a news conference that the explanation citing Mexican drones crossing the border as the reason for the closure was “not the information that we in Congress have been told.”

She said that there was no current or past threat to the area. “There’s no threat. There was not a threat, which is why the F.A.A. lifted this restriction so quickly,” she said. “The information coming from the administration does not add up.”

“There have been drone incursions from Mexico going back to as long as drones existed. So this is nothing new” (NYT)

josefritzishere• 5 months ago

Is Trump planning to attack Mexico?

beej71• 5 months ago

Who knows, but everyone's got that on their mind, now.

jollyllama• 5 months ago

Related to the Guthrie kidnapping perhaps?

kgwxd• 5 months ago

Another distraction from the Trump Files.

VizualAbstract• 5 months ago

It was a party balloon. GG.

https://x.com/clashreport/status/2021642699603144708

tantalor• 5 months ago

Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and reflected the light from Venus.

jeffbee• 5 months ago

Venus was at its peak brilliance last night. You probably thought you saw something up in the sky other than Venus, but I assure you, it was Venus.

1970-01-01• 5 months ago

Whatever happened to the New Jersey drones? Did we give up on them or did they give up on us?

deadbabe• 5 months ago

What drones, there were never any New Jersey drones.

banga• 5 months ago

Today I learned of the broader disruptive capabilities of a mylar birthday balloon.

superfrank• 5 months ago

The elders sang songs of this day, and we were foolish not to take heed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpu5a0Bl8eY

scoofy• 5 months ago

I just think it's weird that major events regarding the Epstein files always seem to be below the fold because something huge, that just happens to be entirely under executive branch discretion, ends up dominating the headlines.

stevenwoo• 5 months ago

The military panicked and shot down a balloon with a laser. https://newrepublic.com/post/206483/el-paso-airport-closed-m...

adrr• 5 months ago

Thats little nerve racking. What happens if a commercial airplane gets confused with a bunch of balloons.

m4rtink3• 5 months ago

Then potentially people die - like they died when there were reckless helicopter flights in front of a DC area airport, until a helicopter collided with an airliner, killing all on board.

IAmGraydon• 5 months ago

They were testing a laser-based anti drone weapon in the area. The administration lied that it was in response to Mexican drones to stoke fear in xenophobia in their base as that is what keeps them in power (making scared people feel like they have some control).

procflora• 5 months ago

It's inter-organizational disfunction. Always more plausible than any conspiracy.

https://apnews.com/article/faa-el-paso-texas-air-space-close...

Pentagon wanted to test the new laser but didn't give FAA enough information to assure safety of the NAS and civilian aviation (when, where, effects, etc.) so they felt forced to pull the big TFR lever. They fired the laser of at who knows what and then FAA lifted the TFR.

Officials Claim Drone Incursion Led to Shutdown of El Paso Airport

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