The airspace over El Paso, Texas, was temporarily closed on the night of Feb. 10 under a Federal Aviation Administration restriction citing “special security reasons,” grounding all flights – commercial, cargo and general aviation.
Though the initial notice said the restriction would last 10 days, the FAA reopened the airspace just a few hours later on Feb. 11, stating that “there is no threat to commercial aviation.” The episode left a key question hanging in the air: What exactly happened that caused the airspace around El Paso to be shut down?
The impact on travelers and families was immediate: a couple of flights were canceled overnight and eight were delayed, according to FlightAware.
There is no single explanation that has been confirmed by all parties. An administration official told USA TODAY that drones controlled by Mexican cartels had entered U.S. airspace and that the military acted to disable them. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy reinforced that account on X, saying the FAA and the “Department of War” acted quickly in response to an “incursion” and that the threat was “neutralized.”
But CBS News and The New York Times reported a different cause: not a direct attack, but a breakdown in military coordination with aviation authorities during a test of counter-drone technology, which would have forced the airspace closure for operational safety.
Several outlets reported that the technology involved may have been a high-powered laser designed to bring down drones, which the military was testing before the FAA shut down the airspace for safety procedures. At that point, the story becomes more sensitive: Closing airspace because of a confirmed threat is not the same as shutting it down due to a poorly coordinated test.
Asked about those reports, the Pentagon told USA TODAY that it had “nothing further to provide at this time.”
CBS also reported an episode that sounds almost unbelievable but has entered the public conversation: Sources said counter-drone technology was deployed near the border to take down what appeared to be foreign drones, but the flying object turned out to be a party balloon.
At the same time, those sources noted that cartels have been using drones along the border and that it was unclear how many may have been targeted that week by anti–unmanned aircraft systems. One official said at least one drone may have been disabled. Once again, conflicting accounts that only deepen the confusion.
El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson said drones along the border are nothing new. He also said that neither he nor other local leaders received advance notice of the airspace closure – a notable detail, since coordination with local authorities is typically part of responses to real emergencies.
In Mexico, President Claudia Sheinbaum said at a Feb. 11 press conference that there was no information indicating drones at the border and emphasized that Mexican airspace was not closed. “We are going to find out what the reasons were for why the airspace was closed,” she said.

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