While there is little new official information about the FAA order that briefly closed the airspace over El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday, anonymous figures inside the federal government are blaming the episode on confusion over the testing of a new anti-drone laser at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Sources cited by NBC News said the Defense Department has been experimenting with a high-powered laser that can disable enemy drones. The department trained Customs and Border Protection personnel on how to use the weapon, and the agency apparently used it against what it thought were foreign UAVs earlier this week. The objects turned out to be party balloons, NBC News reported.
CBP allegedly used the laser without coordinating with the FAA.
The new details follow reports from earlier Wednesday that some kind of counter-drone system was being used in the El Paso area, presumably by the military at nearby Fort Bliss. That information also came from unnamed federal officials who were not authorized to speak publicly.
Shortly after the temporary flight restriction was canceled Wednesday morning, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA was reacting to a “cartel drone incursion.” He did not mention the anti-drone laser or CBP.
The Trump administration continues to maintain that a cartel drone was downed.
The FAA’s sudden flight ban and its cancellation only hours later left local officials and emergency services in El Paso scrambling for information. The city’s mayor slammed the FAA for failing to coordinate with El Paso’s airport, police, and hospitals, since the closure could have affected emergency response operations and medical flights.
Members of Congress who represent the El Paso area and Texas generally said they are working to get more information from the FAA and the military.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford was on Capitol Hill on Wednesday for a scheduled, closed-door meeting and did not answer questions from reporters about the incident in El Paso, NBC News said.
