Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy offered an explanation for the unprecedented closure of the airspace over El Paso, Texas, but it’s not satisfying his critics.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed a 10-day shutdown starting in the predawn hours Wednesday morning but then abruptly lifted the closure shortly before 9 a.m., and Duffy provided a public statement about 40 minutes later to explain the moves.
“The FAA and DOW acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion,” Duffy said, using the acronym for the “Department of War.” “The threat has been neutralized, and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region. The restrictions have been lifted and normal flights are resuming.”
CNN’s Pete Muntean had reported before the shutdown was lifted that the FAA felt that civilian air safety could not be guaranteed due to unspecified military operations at nearby Biggs Army Airbase, which Duffy seemed to confirm without providing additional details, and his statement raised new questions.
“Why would that necessitate a ten day closure, and why is the [temporary flight restriction] in [New Mexico] still active?” asked X user Steve, a self-described right-leaning independent.
“No problem with this. EXCEPT. Announcing for 10 DAYS is a problem,” opined X user Michael Passons, a former Marine and self-described conservative. “Why did that happen?”
“By swiftly, you mean ~3 hours later?” challenged TheIntelFrog military aircraft tracker account. “So these drones were detected and just loitered for 3 hours waiting for DoD to respond? If the threat is over, why is the TFR that was published with the same parameters as the one over El Paso still active?”
“So whoever decided the 10 day timeline to take down some drones are either incompetent or planned something major,” speculated the OSINTranger account.
“Now the administration is contradicting the first explanation that it was a test,” noted author Tyler King. “Claiming now they closed the airspace for ten days because they shot down some cartel drones. Which just sounds laughably improbable.”
“I’m sorry but I dont believe this,” joked Media Matters’ Andrew Lawrence. “I think Trump woke up extra senile and decided to bomb Mexico and then, I dunno Papa John or Brett Favre or someone talked him out of it.”
“FAA shuts down El Paso Airport because of security concerns about testing of a secret DoD anti-drone device, apparently because they failed to communicate with DoD,” sighed journalist and attorney Scott Horton. “A perfect demonstration of how Hegseth and Sean Duffy work together.”
“Despite his bullshit about sweatpants and pull up bars Sean Duffy does seem to have a vague sense that one of his jobs is keeping airplanes in the air, while Hegseth is just a pure maniac,” added Bluesky user Evelyn Custom Text.
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