FAA Lifts El Paso Airspace Closure After Drone-Related Incident

A sudden Federal Aviation Administration temporary flight restriction that would have grounded flights at El Paso International Airport for ten days was lifted hours after it was issued, restoring air traffic and leaving the drone racing community and travelers to assess the fallout. The FAA posted that the temporary closure was lifted and said, “There is no threat to commercial aviation. All flights will resume as normal.”

The FAA had posted a TFR covering Feb. 10–20 and issued the notice late Tuesday night at 11:30 p.m., saying the restriction applied to El Paso International Airport and nearby Santa Teresa in southern New Mexico for “special security reasons.” Local outlets reported the FAA lifted the restriction around 7 a.m. Wednesday, while other accounts said the all-clear came by 9 a.m. The short-lived grounding interrupted commercial, cargo, and general aviation operations and left travelers stranded at ticket counters; the closest major alternative airport, in Albuquerque, is more than 270 miles away. United Airlines issued travel waivers allowing rebooking for flights rescheduled between Feb. 21 and Feb. 28 without change fees.

Conflicting explanations emerged about what triggered the closure. Some reports said Mexican cartel drones breached U.S. airspace and that the devices were disabled, with KFOX quoting an unnamed official relaying to CNN: “The Department of War took action to disable the drones.” Other accounts attributed the disruption to military or Customs and Border Protection testing of counter-drone technology near Fort Bliss, including deployment of an anti-drone laser on loan from the Department of Defense and testing described by multiple sources as involving high-energy lasers. New York Times reporting said the FAA’s reversal occurred “at the direction of the White House.” Local officials voiced frustration about the lack of notice: El Paso International Airport said, “Public safety comes first. El Paso deserves transparency, accountability, and a real seat at the table when decisions like this are made.” Representative Veronica Escobar said her office and local officials received no advance notice and insisted the shutdown “was not caused by a drone in U.S. airspace,” adding it “is not what we in Congress have been told.”

For the drone racing scene the incident is more than a travel headache - it is a reputational and operational moment. FPV pilots, race promoters, and league organizers depend on predictable airspace access for sanctioned meets, practice sessions, and broadcast windows. A high-profile security closure tied, rightly or wrongly, to cartel drones or military countermeasures blurs lines between recreational and illicit drone use, increasing regulatory scrutiny and insurance costs for events. Race calendars that use municipal airports or nearby airspace for qualifiers could face new coordination hurdles with FAA, CBP, and DoD, and pilots who rely on local practice corridors may see unexpected downtime.

Longer term, the episode highlights industry trends: investment in counter-drone systems, increased interagency activity near border regions, and the political pressures that can quickly alter airspace rules. For racers and organizers the immediate priorities are clarity and coordination - secure FAA guidance on TFR issuance and lifting, confirmation of any military or CBP activity that could affect civilian operations, and assurances that scheduled events will get advance notice. What comes next is a tighter conversation between the drone racing community and regulators to ensure that competitive flying remains safe, timely, and separated from national security operations that can ground an entire city with little warning.