FAA closes El Paso airspace for 10 days over security concerns
By Karina Tsui, Diego Mendoza, CNN
(CNN) — The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a temporary flight restriction immediately halting all flights to and from El Paso International Airport in Texas and an area of southern New Mexico for 10 days.
According to the FAA’s website, the pause over El Paso and Santa Teresa, New Mexico, is due to “special security reasons.”
A notice by the FAA classifies the airspace as “(National) Defense Airspace” and says pilots who violate the restriction could be intercepted, detained and questioned by law enforcement.
It warns that additional actions could be taken for pilots who don’t adhere to the restrictions, including suspension of flight certifications, criminal charges, and that the US government “may use deadly force” if an aircraft poses an “imminent security threat.”
El Paso International Airport, which issued a statement late Tuesday, said all commercial, cargo and general aviation flights would be grounded until February 20.
The agency issued the restriction “on short notice,” and airport staff have reached out for further guidance, the airport said in another statement to CNN affiliate KFOX.
El Paso air traffic control can be heard informing flights of the imminent airspace closure in flight control audio obtained by CNN.
“It’s a complete ground stop … not even medevac are allowed to fly,” a controller is heard saying on the audio, recorded Tuesday night by the website LiveATC.net.
“Wow,” a flight crew member is heard responding.
The airspace closure is expected to be extremely disruptive for El Paso, a major industrial hub, Robert Moore, the founder and CEO of news site El Paso Matters, told CNN.
“We’ve never seen anything like this here at least since 9/11, when everything was grounded,” he said.
CNN has reached out to the FAA and El Paso International Airport for more information.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The-CNN-Wire
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