NM Rep. calls El Paso airspace shutdown unacceptable; restrictions remain in Santa Teresa

SANTA TERESA, N.M. (KFOX14/CBS4) — A New Mexico Congressional Representative called the El Paso airspace shutdown “unacceptable” as flight restrictions remain around the Santa Teresa area.

New Mexico Representative for District 2 Gabe Vasquez accused the Federal Aviation Administration of ignoring standard procedures by closing a city’s airspace without alerting state and local officials.

“There are standard rules and procedures for how our airspace is controlled, including when the Department of Defense (DOD) is conducting any testing in our region. These procedures keep Americans safe and prevent disruption to civil airspace. This morning, the Administration decided to steamroll those policies and close a major city’s airspace without notifying state and local officials. That is unacceptable,” Vasquez wrote in a statement.

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Furthermore, Vasquez questioned the explanations that government officials have been giving for the flight restrictions.

Vasquez said the FAA had been tracking the Department of Defense’s “counter drone” tests for days and he believes the FAA mistakenly responded to the tests by shutting down the airspace for 10 days.

“The statements this Administration has put out about the situation are misleading at best and a cover-up for their incompetence at worst,” Vasquez wrote. “Let’s be clear — the Administration has provided no proof of a drone incursion that would warrant this large-scale, 10-day response. Our nation can prepare for these threats without causing chaos and inducing unwarranted fear.”

Vasquez said that despite the 10-day closure of the El Paso airspace, which was cancelled only after seven hours, flight restrictions remain in an area a few miles from the Santa Teresa jet port, which remains open and was never impacted by the closure.

Below is Vasquez’s full statement:

I have been tracking this situation since very early this morning, and I want to assure southern New Mexicans and those who rely on the El Paso Airport that there is no national security threat and operations are expected to resume as normal at the El Paso Airport.

There are standard rules and procedures for how our airspace is controlled, including when the Department of Defense (DOD) is conducting any testing in our region. These procedures keep Americans safe and prevent disruption to civil airspace. This morning, the Administration decided to steamroll those policies and close a major city’s airspace without notifying state and local officials. That is unacceptable.

Medical evacuation flights had to be diverted, commercial air carriers were forced to cancel as many as half their flights for the day, and people were left stranded. The American people deserve better than the chaos and lack of transparency we keep seeing from this Administration.”

Through my conversations with federal and local officials, it has become abundantly clear the FAA was tracking the DOD’s counter drone tests for multiple days, and the FAA responded — in error — with the disproportionate response of abruptly closing our airspace for 10 days. The statements this Administration has put out about the situation are misleading at best and a coverup for their incompetence at worst.

Let’s be clear — the Administration has provided no proof of a drone incursion that would warrant this large scale, 10-day response. Our nation can prepare for these threats without causing chaos and inducing unwarranted fear.

El Paso mayor criticizes FAA over airspace shutdown; called it ‘unnecessary decision’

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