US shuts airspace over Texas, New Mexico for 10 days with cryptic notice

The United States Federal Aviation Administration has issued cryptic notices closing airspace over El Paso and much of southern New Mexico for 10 days, grounding all flights at El Paso International Airport and sparking fears of major disruptions in the country's 23rd-largest city.

The orders, effective from 11:30 pm Mountain Time on February 10 until 11:30 pm on February 20, classify the zone as "National Defense Airspace." Pilots who stray in risk interception, detention, or even deadly force if deemed a threat, the notices warn in stark terms.

El Paso officials confirmed early Wednesday that the airport is shuttered to commercial, cargo, and general aviation flights.

"The FAA, on short notice, issued a temporary flight restriction halting all flights to and from El Paso and our neighboring community, Santa Teresa, NM," the city said in a release. Travelers should check with airlines, as staff awaits further FAA guidance.

The no-fly zone spans a 10-nautical-mile radius around the airport, including Fort Bliss, from ground level to 17,000 feet -- barring airliners, military jets, medevac choppers, and law enforcement alike. It covers most of El Paso County and a swath of southern New Mexico west of Santa Teresa up to the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, but spares Mexican airspace and Santa Teresa's airport.

Such a prolonged lockdown over a major US city is unprecedented since the post-9/11 terror attacks, according to a source familiar with the notices who spoke off the record.

"All air traffic has been halted... Nobody can fly as this thing is written up," the person said.

FAA officials offered no explanation. A call to the agency's Special Operations Support Center yielded little: "Not really, not because I won't -- it's because I don't know," said a man identifying himself as Eric. "This is just the office that publishes."