El Paso airspace closed 10 days

[Anonymous]

Better discussion in Politics thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw this!!! I immediately thought what in the world is Trump up to now?

+1
Not sure why OP couldn't be bothered to quote a snippet of the article. Lazy OP

"A notice posted on the FAA’s website said the temporary flight restrictions were for “special security reasons,” but did not provide additional details. The closure does not include Mexican airspace."

Do you think it's normal to close an American airport for 10 days with no notice? Something bad is happening there.

Pilot here. Not normal at all. I've been flying for 25 years and the only similar event I know of is 9/11. That was a complete shutdown of all airspace across the entire country for 2 days. DCA was closed for several weeks IIRC, I think it was the only commercial airport closed for an extended period (some smaller GA airports stayed closed or heavily restricted for months).

We do regularly get short-notice Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) for presidential travel or major events with large crowds of people, but they are much shorter and typically still allow airline traffic and medevac type flights.

+1 None of this is normal.
https://apnews.com/live/faa-el-paso-texas-air-space-closed-updates
The sudden and surprising airspace closure over El Paso, Texas, stemmed from the Pentagon’s plans to test a laser for use in shooting down drones used by Mexican drug cartels, according to three people familiar with the situation who were granted anonymity to share sensitive details.

That caused friction with the Federal Aviation Administration, which wanted to ensure commercial air safety and the two agencies sought to coordinate, according to two of the people. Despite a meeting scheduled later this month to discuss the issue, the Pentagon wanted to go ahead and test it, prompting the FAA to shutter the airspace. It was not clear whether the laser was ultimately deployed.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said earlier that the response by the Defense Department and the FAA to neutralize an incursion by Mexican cartel drones had led to the airspace closure. Drone incursions are not uncommon along the U.S.-Mexico border.