'Never ever in history': Expert reveals new details about El Paso airspace closure

[turbinetree]

By Travis Gettys
Published February 11, 2026 8:50 AM ET

CNN's Pete Muntean could not hide his shock at the Federal Aviation Administration's "unprecedented" overnight move to shut down a U.S. airport for more than a week.

The FAA closed the airspace over El Paso, Texas, for 10 days without explanation, but Muntean told "CNN News Central" that a source familiar with the situation told him the decision was related to an unspecified military operation at a nearby U.S. Army base.

"It's a huge deal," Muntean said. "You know, it was a mystery, now, a little bit less so, and the new reporting from me, a source familiar briefed by the Federal Aviation Administration on this really unprecedented 10-day airspace shutdown over El Paso, Texas, right on the border there with Mexico, says this is all linked to military activity at nearby Fort Bliss, specifically Biggs Army Airfield. You can see it on the map there, just north of the El Paso International Airport. That is significant because it seems that the Defense Department was carrying out some sort of operation there, still sort of unspecified, which caused the FAA to think that they could not assure the safety of flights going in and out of El Paso International Airport. Therefore, that led to this blanket sweeping airspace shutdown without modern precedent."

https://www.rawstory.com/airspace-shutdown-never-in-history/

Hope no has to be life flight out..............because that is even shut down............

It has now been reported that it has been lifted without any restrictions............

[Ritabert]

1. I hear it's already been lifted.

The Federal Aviation Administration abruptly grounded all flights in and out of El Paso International Airport in Texas for 10 days starting Wednesday, citing “special security” instructions, and then lifted the order hours later.

“The temporary closure of airspace over El Paso has been lifted,” the FAA said in a post on X. “There is no threat to commercial aviation. All flights will resume as normal.”

The FAA didn’t immediately say what the security reasons for the temporary sudden halt were. The airport sits next to Biggs Army Airfield and is near the Mexican border, about 12 miles from Juarez, Mexico. The Pentagon referred a question about the nature of the security issue to the FAA.

Flights were initially halted until late Feb. 20 and the ban applied to a 10-nautical-mile area around the airport. While the FAA regularly halts flights at airports for weather and traffic, a security issue is highly unusual as is an effective airspace closure for this long.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/11/faa-el-paso-airport.html

[turbinetree]

2. Okay thanks...............

[Ritabert]

6. I suspect it's just on hold.

[justhanginon]

3. Maybe Hegseth sobered up!

[turbinetree]

4. They probably gave him some more ..............and he just doesn't know it it that it has been lifted...............

[raccoon]

5. Maybe it has to do with extraterrestrial aliens coming to save us! (I wish!)

[mainer]

7. Same thing happened over Curacao last month: US military endangered civilian flights

A JetBlue flight had a near-collision with a military plane over Curacao because the military turned off its transponders, making their aircraft invisible. Curacao, Bonaire, and Aruba had to close its airspace, stranding thousands of people on the islands.

FAA was right to close the airspace.

[Scruffy1]

8. Makes sense.

I live on the border about five miles south of El Paso International and a little farther to Biggs I've been hearing a lot of military flights lately. Take off is generally to the west and planes leaving to the east generally fly over my house. F-35s are noisy as hell. Biggs airfield seems to be the go to field for hush hush stuff. It has long been a concern with having military ops right next to a civilian field. That is the main reason the Air Force left. I suspect it was a failed mission similar to the Maduros op to distract from the total corruption and incompetence of this administration.

[travelingthrulife]

9. Release the Epstein files and these daily outrages can be ended.