El Paso airport grounding was in response to testing of U.S. military technology, sources say

The grounding of aircraft at El Paso International Airport in Texas early Wednesday was in response to the testing of U.S. military technology that can be used to take down drones, according to four sources familiar with the matter.

The testing was taking place in the proximity of the airport, raising concerns within the Federal Aviation Administration, which responded by issuing a “Temporary Flight Restriction Notice,” the sources said.

Three of the sources said the testing, which was taking place near Fort Bliss, was of high-energy lasers that are designed to protect against drones from drug cartels that could cross over the U.S. border.

The Federal Aviation Administration halted all flights out of El Paso International Airport in Texas for 10 days for what it said were “special security reasons” before abruptly lifting the order.

It did not explain the about-face. A Trump administration official earlier told NBC News that Mexican cartel drones had breached American airspace and the Defense Department had disabled them.

There is no confirmation from the Pentagon that any drones were shot down, despite the statement from the administration official.

The military did recently shoot down a small party balloon, two of the sources said.

Two of the sources said there was a miscommunication, or possibly a dispute, between the FAA and the Defense Department about whether the testing could affect commercial aviation that preceded the grounding of aircraft at El Paso airport.

They said the FAA issued the temporary restriction until the agency could get more information about the testing or be assured it wasn’t affecting aviation.

Some lawmakers on Capitol Hill told defense department officials that the grounding of flights was due to a counter-drone exercise that was not coordinated with the FAA, according to a fourth source familiar with the matter.

El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson said the temporary flight restriction was unnecessary and “should have never happened.”

“This unnecessary decision has caused chaos and confusion in the El Paso community,” he said at a news conference. “You cannot restrict airspace over a major city without coordinating with the city, the airport, the hospitals, the community leadership. That failure to communicate is unacceptable.”

Johnson said medical evacuation flights had to be diverted to Las Cruces, about 45 miles away. All aviation operations, including emergency flights, were grounded, he said.

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