Name: FAA closes El Paso airspace for 10 days for security concerns
Uploaded: 2026-02-11T17:10:04.000Z
Duration: 9 min 12 s
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Basic passive voice

Breaking out of El Paso, Texas, where, in a rare move, the airspace is now closed for 10 days.

The FAA is halting all flights to and from El Paso International citing, quote, special security reasons.

Adverbs of degree

It's a move that even shocked flight crews when they heard for El Paso is going to be shut down to air traffic for security reasons.

Do you know if there's any exceptions for medevac status?

It's a complete ground stop and it's a complete ground stop.

The restrictions will also apply to part of southern New Mexico.

Experts say the US hasn't closed airspace for security since the 911 terror attacks.

Joining me now to discuss is Mary Schiavo, CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general at the U.S.

Mary, thank you so much for what I notice with those air traffic controllers is they're asking what we're asking.

And they say no, not that they know, but that there's no exceptions, not even medevac.

And like you mentioned, not since September 11, 2001.

But remember, the grounding of September 11, 2001 came too late.

And the FAA is often criticized for being reactive, not proactive.

the reason it doesn't happen very often is the FAA and of course TSA and national security intel agencies have to have a credible threat or a high significant security risk.

And that means they have information that something would endanger the air traffic above El Paso in the area or it poses a danger from the air to people on the ground.

And the threat has to show they have some ability to do it.

And then also it could be military exercises, it could be in support of law enforcement.

The FAA can do that for those reasons as well.

Or they can do it if they have foreign intelligence that they don't have all the details yet, but

they have enough from a foreign intelligence source trustworthy that something presents a huge risk and more details to follow.

So there are many reasons that you need to.

Because there was something specific in the alert, which was notice to airmen.

It talks about the airspace being closed and then it has this warning for pilots that, quote, the United States government may use deadly force against the airborne aircraft if it is determined that the aircraft poses an imminent security threat.

For example, that was language after September 11th.

If you stray too close, even as a private pilot, to air bases or facilities where you may not go, they will usually send an escort.

Sometimes they send an escort just for training.

And it's certainly part of the protocol when the threat is serious.

A local reporter actually told CNN that they were able to get through to the faa.

I was able to get through to an FAA official who actually was the one who put out the notice.

He couldn't even tell me what it was about, not because he didn't want to, but

He was just told, get this notice out now.

And so it's this area around El Paso International Airport, and

El Paso is the nation's 23rd largest city.

Can you talk about how shutting down airspace can have ripple effects?

And then also it's the airspace next to El Paso that covers some military airspace as well.

And that gives us a pretty big clue and extends up to a nearby mountain range.

it's not unusual that not everyone in the FAA would know because you have to have different levels of clearance.

Just because you're cleared to work in the tower doesn't mean that you have the highest levels of intelligence clearance.

And this warning may have come through at a very high level, I mean, top secret and even levels above that.

There's going to be some people maybe online who are going to say, gee, this looks very close to this search people are doing for Nancy Guthrie and try to tie these news stories together.

What would you offer people as they're learning this news this morning?

Well, you know, first of all, the FAA can support law enforcement activities, but

with the military base, not the base itself, but

this area nearby that cover some military activity and that it stops right at the Mexico border.

I would suspect that it's not tied to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, but

they could do that if there was a need for it.

But the 10 day window tells us something is going on and they don't have the exact date pinpointed.

our national intelligence is erring on the side of safety and security, as they should, and

a mistake that they don't want to repeat after September 11, 2001.

I'm sure we'll be checking in more today.

Joining us now on the phone is Robert Moore, the founder and CEO of the independent news organization El Paso Matters.

What more can you share with us about this news?

It's a big mystery that local government officials were caught off guard by this.

I think the military officials at Fort Bliss were, were caught off guard.

But basically from what we understand that they're from a 10 mile radius around the El Paso International Airport.

Now that includes military aircraft, medical evacuation helicopters, law enforcement.

We've never obviously seen anything like this here, at least since 911 when everything was grounded.

I was able to through to an FAA official who actually was the one who put out the notice and he said he couldn't even tell me what it was about, not because he didn't want to, but

He was just told get this notice out now.

And so it's this area around El Paso International Airport and El Paso is the nation's 23rd largest city.

And then to the west of El Paso in southern New Mexico, there's another pretty large area along the Mexican border that's, that's also essentially a no fly zone.