Wednesday, February 11, 2026

FAA Suddenly Drops Unprecedented Air Restrictions Over El Paso, Southern New Mexico

The Federal Aviation Administration issued unexplained notices late Tuesday closing airspace over El Paso and a large patch of southern New Mexico west of Santa Teresa for 10 days. El Paso International Airport is closed to all flights, the city said.

Posted by snoofy at 09:34 AM | 27 COMMENTS | permalink

More

Conversation between El Paso Tower and Southwest: https://x.com/Vitamvivere/status/2021487318826168384/video/1

SWA 1249: Okay. Ground stop 0630 for how long? ELP Tower: Ten days. SWA 1249: So the airport's totally closed? ELP Tower: Apparently, we just got informed about thirty minutes to an hour ago. SWA 1249: So for TEN DAYS you guys are not open? ELP Tower: Well I mean we'll be here but no air traffic. SWA 1249: Okay! Thanks for that heads-up.

Comments

2026: The Year of Mars, God of War

#1 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-02-11 04:41 AM

Every day is a fresh hell with the diabolical Trumpf junta.

www.youtube.com

theconversation.com

#2 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-02-11 05:15 AM

Preparing for Trump's trademarked brand of dumbfookery in Mexico?

#3 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2026-02-11 06:18 AM

And Canadian airlines stopped flying to Cuba because of a lack of aviation fuel.

Oil from Venezuela destined to Cuba is now enroute to Israel.

The Mexican government is trying to help their impoverished island neighbor and is "exploring all diplomatic avenues to be able to send fuel to the Cuban people", despite efforts from Washington to cut off oil to the Caribbean nation. Mexico is sending Cuba humanitarian aid, but President Claudia Sheinbaum is in a tough spot thanks to the insidious Trumpf regime.

Link: www.timesofisrael.com


#4 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-02-11 06:57 AM

The gremlins in Trump's brain are on the march again and growing stronger.

#5 | Posted by Twinpac at 2026-02-11 09:11 AM

Let me guess, massing troops to invade Mexico.

#6 | Posted by bat4255 at 2026-02-11 09:17 AM

TACO, Now it's lifted, make up your mind.

apnews.com

#7 | Posted by bat4255 at 2026-02-11 09:21 AM

This was a massive failure of the national defense.

Just an indicator of the holes Trump has left in our protections since he started chasing Jews...er...migrants at the expense of everything else.

#8 | Posted by Zed at 2026-02-11 09:43 AM

"Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on X that the FAA and the Defense Department "acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion. The threat has been neutralized and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region."

It's a shame that the Trump white house is so full of liars that such claims from them can't be taken seriously.

#9 | Posted by johnny_hotsauce at 2026-02-11 09:51 AM

The UAP cleanup went quicker than expected.

#10 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-02-11 09:54 AM

"Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on X that the FAA and the Defense Department "acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion"

Another story, offered within the last hour, is that the DoD and FAA had a breakdown in communications.

#11 | Posted by Zed at 2026-02-11 10:07 AM

C'mon people, you know the routine. This -------- has been going on since 1898. This is just a step in manufacturing consent for air-based (and possibly ground-based) operations in Mexico.

#1. Sow chaos: Get the public's attention with a spectacle (either a fabricated casus belli or a major news story that creates a false sense of insecurity)
#2. Make #1 the excuse for unilaterally violating a sovereign nation's borders.
#3. Sign Executive Order that designates an individual or individuals terrorists
#4 Sign Executive order that gives the go-ahead for military action that ALWAYS ends up killing innocent people in the name of "self defense" or "regime change

#12 | Posted by pumpkinhead at 2026-02-11 10:09 AM

They didn't close airspace to deal with drones.

#13 | Posted by lee_the_agent at 2026-02-11 10:35 AM

They didn't close airspace to deal with drones.

#13 | POSTED BY LEE_THE_AGENT

I dunno. Maybe there were millions of drones, all flying high enough to be detected by radar.

#14 | Posted by Zed at 2026-02-11 10:40 AM

Trophy for most ambiguously worded thread title goes to Snoofy.

#15 | Posted by visitor_ at 2026-02-11 11:31 AM

#10 that was my thought as well.

I was going to snarkily say I guess the ETs landed and were unibserved as planned.

#16 | Posted by jpw at 2026-02-11 12:20 PM

Was PEDO47 flying in another drug cartel family to grant them asylum in the US?

#17 | Posted by Nixon at 2026-02-11 12:58 PM

Crockett: "Unanimous consent to enter into the record: El Paso air space reopened after FAA quickly rescinds ten day flights restriction. This was published and it says it was because of an impasse with the DOD over the use of unmanned military aircraft"not triggered by Mexican cartel drones."

#18 | Posted by qcp at 2026-02-11 01:18 PM

Airspace closure followed spat over drone-related tests and party balloon shoot-down, sources say

The unexpected but brief airspace closure in the Texas border city of El Paso stemmed from disagreements between the Federal Aviation Administration and Pentagon officials over drone-related tests, multiple sources close to the matter told CBS News.
www.cbsnews.com

Did pickled Pete get liquored up again and start some ----?

#19 | Posted by reinheitsgebot at 2026-02-11 01:19 PM

"Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on X that the FAA and the Defense Department "acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion. The threat has been neutralized and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region."
It's a shame that the Trump white house is so full of liars that such claims from them can't be taken seriously.
#9 | Posted by johnny_hotsauce

Here we are a few hours later and we now know that Duffy was full of crap.
What really happened is that FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford made the call to shutdown the airspace without notifying the White House, Pentagon or Home Security after the pentagon rushed the deployment of an anti-drone laser that they used against some mylar balloons without coordinating with the FAA.

The incompetence of very high level people across various departments is stunning. This is what happens when you give jobs to unqualified people based on loyalty to the pedo fraud cult leader.

#20 | Posted by johnny_hotsauce at 2026-02-11 05:33 PM

The head of the FAA lied about his commercial pilot license, but was a political donor to Dummkopf Trumpf.

#21 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-02-11 05:45 PM

The clown show farce that is Trump part 2 continues apace.

#22 | Posted by e1g1 at 2026-02-11 07:56 PM

@#20 ... What really happened is that FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford made the call to shutdown the airspace without notifying the White House, Pentagon or Home Security after the pentagon rushed the deployment of an anti-drone laser that they used against some mylar balloons without coordinating with the FAA. ...

The apparent incompetence would be funny, if it were not so serious.

An update ...

El Paso airport closed after military used new anti-drone laser to zap party balloon
arstechnica.com

... "I want to be very, very clear that this should've never happened."

On Tuesday night, the Federal Aviation Administration closed airspace up to 18,000 feet above the El Paso International Airport in Texas, saying the restrictions would be in place for 10 days. Then, less than 10 hours later, the federal agency reopened the airspace, allowing planes to land and take off at the busy airport.

About an hour after lifting the restrictions, US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, whose responsibilities include overseeing the FAA, explained the unexpected closure by saying, "The FAA and DOW acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion." (The Trump Administration refers to the Department of Defense as the Department of War, or DOW, although its legal name remains the former.)

Not everyone agrees with Duffy's account.

Based upon reporting from The New York Times and other publications, the military has been developing high-energy lasers to bring down drones. The FAA and US military officials had been discussing tests of the new weapon from the nearby Fort Bliss Army base. However, the FAA had not resolved all of its concerns about airplane safety from the tests.

Despite these apparently lingering concerns from the FAA, the military went ahead with a test earlier this week against what was thought to be a drone.

The object was a party balloon. ...

"I want to be very, very clear that this should've never happened," El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson said during a news conference on Wednesday. "That failure to communicate is unacceptable." ...



#23 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-02-11 10:14 PM

The Trumpf junta admitted a few weeks ago that defending US military against drones is problematic for them.

They were right: drudge.com

#24 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-02-11 10:44 PM

"C'mon people, you know the routine. This -------- has been going on since 1898. This is just a step in manufacturing consent for air-based (and possibly ground-based) operations in Mexico.

#1. Sow chaos: Get the public's attention with a spectacle (either a fabricated casus belli or a major news story that creates a false sense of insecurity)
#2. Make #1 the excuse for unilaterally violating a sovereign nation's borders.
#3. Sign Executive Order that designates an individual or individuals terrorists
#4 Sign Executive order that gives the go-ahead for military action that ALWAYS ends up killing innocent people in the name of "self defense" or "regime change
#12 | POSTED BY PUMPKINHEAD "

Exactly!

#25 | Posted by Wildman62 at 2026-02-12 11:49 AM

President Biden revealed that the flying objects shot down by the U.S. Air Force were probably harmless. Now, the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade say they believe their $12 balloon was shot down over Alaska by a $400,000 missile. They track their balloons floating around the world with solar-powered GPS technology. The balloon shot down over Alaska was apparently named K9YO-15, which disappeared on February 10th.

#26 | Posted by Petrous at 2026-02-12 05:16 PM

President Biden ...
#26 | POSTED BY PETROUS

Does Trump pay you with children to rape in exchange for your deflections?

#27 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-02-12 05:19 PM

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