The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a temporary flight restriction that halts all flights to and from El Paso and the neighboring Santa Teresa, New Mexico, city officials said.
The restriction prohibits all aircraft operations, including commercial, cargo and general aviation flights, from 11:30 p.m. MST on Feb. 10 through 11:30 p.m. MST on Feb. 20. The restriction was issued for ‘special security reasons’, according to an FAA notice, a move that is rare for an airport in a major U.S. city.
El Paso is the 23rd-largest city in the United States, and the total airspace closure is expected to cause considerable disruption across the national aviation network.
At 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11, El Paso International Airport appeared nearly deserted. Employees on site said they were unsure what prompted the halt of all flights.
Noah Velasquez, a Lower Valley resident, was scheduled to depart for New York City at 7 a.m. Like many travelers, he was notified around midnight that his flight had been canceled.
Velasquez said he and other passengers were among the first to alert American Airlines to the situation at the El Paso airport.
‘American Airlines wasn’t even notified,’ Velasquez said. ‘We were the ones who told them. It’s very confusing. I don’t know what’s going on either.’
The notice, in part, reads: ‘THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION (FAA) CLASSIFIES THE AIRSPACE DEFINED IN THIS NOTAM AS ‘NTL DEFENSE AIRSPACE’. PILOTS WHO DO NOT ADHERE TO THE FOLLOWING PROC MAY BE INTERCEPTED, DETAINED AND INTERVIEWED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT/SECURITY PERSONNEL. ANY OF THE FOLLOWING ADDITIONAL ACTIONS MAY ALSO BE TAKEN AGAINST A PILOT WHO DOES NOT COMPLY WITH THE RQMNTS OR ANY SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS OR PROC ANNOUNCED IN THIS NOTAM.’
It goes on to state that the FAA may take administrative actions and can use ‘deadly force against the airborne acft, if it is determined that the ACFT poses an imminent security threat.’
This closure of the airspace in El Paso is similar to government actions taken after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on several U.S. civilian and military sites.
Just minutes after that attack, the FAA banned all outgoing flights and ordered all planes in the air to land at the nearest airport. El Paso International Airport canceled nearly 70 departing flights. Seven airplanes landed at the El Paso airport, carrying a total of more than 700 passengers, according to El Paso Times archives.