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Unusual Shutdown of a Texas Airport...El Paso (ELP)
FAA ^ | 02/11/2026 | Me

Posted on 02/11/2026 12:27:37 AM PST by Drago

Unusual shut down if a fairly major airport for 10 days....national security? Terror threat? Or ???


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Local News; Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: airport; elp; elpaso; faa; flying; notam; texas; travel
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ATC audio and other links follow...
1 posted on 02/11/2026 12:27:37 AM PST by Drago
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To: Drago

ATC Audio with SWA:
https://x.com/thenewarea51/status/2021455406141432146?s=20

https://www.outback.com/menu/springfieldeugene/category/50622

Additional airspace restriction near ELP:
https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_2234


2 posted on 02/11/2026 12:29:31 AM PST by Drago
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To: All; Drago

Sorry about the “Outback” menu...”clipboard” overcrowding....here is the one I meant to post:

https://x.com/Osinttechnical/status/2021487628475052071?s=20

https://www.elpasointernationalairport.com


3 posted on 02/11/2026 12:33:36 AM PST by Drago
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To: Drago

I’ve never heard of anything like this, post 9-11. What the heck is going on?


4 posted on 02/11/2026 12:49:14 AM PST by married21 (As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.)
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To: All

As of February 11, 2026, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has closed the airspace over El Paso International Airport and parts of southern New Mexico for 10 days, citing unspecified “national defense” reasons.

The unusual, 10-day Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) prohibits all commercial, cargo, and general aviation, with officials pending further guidance.


5 posted on 02/11/2026 1:00:39 AM PST by Liz (Jonathan Swift: Government without the consent of the governed is the very definition of slavery.)
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To: Drago
Unusual shut down if a fairly major airport for 10 days....national security? Terror threat? Or ???

This is very strange, particularly since the prohibited air space borders Mexico. I can think of two possibilities:

1. Intel was received about some sort of air threat to the El Paso/SE New Mexico area.

2. Holloman AFB is near El Paso (95 miles away). Could it be the base for some sort of upcoming military operation?

6 posted on 02/11/2026 1:11:59 AM PST by Right_Wing_Madman
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To: Drago

Interesting 🤔🤔🤔


7 posted on 02/11/2026 2:20:24 AM PST by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the Days of Lot; They did Eat, They Drank, They Bought, They Sold ......)
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To: Drago

Has there been anything like this except for 9/11?

I know “immigrants” are often hired to do baggage handling and various airport duties, and there used to be discussions of how many Arabs were hired in the 2000s.

But some of the dangerous Biden era illegals now may be preparing their big event.
We were all warned.

Shoulder mounted small missiles. Explosives put on aircraft as part of maintenance. Sudden arrival of automatic weapon armed groups on the tarmac. Devices to interfere with instruments. Swarms of drones suddenly unleashed.

If there are any Chinese agents watching the airport as in several other cities where they bought “agricultural land”
maybe they could share their surveillance data (JUST KIDDING).


8 posted on 02/11/2026 2:25:14 AM PST by frank ballenger (There's a battle outside and it's raging. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls. )
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To: Drago

9 posted on 02/11/2026 2:29:16 AM PST by Candor7 ( Ask not for whom the Trump Trolls,He trolls for thee!<img src="" width=300</img><a href="">tag</a>))
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To: Liz

Last night I heard a low roar like a circling jet crossed with a diesel that went on for an hour. About 6:30 MST. Came from the direction of El Paso.

Sky glowed.


10 posted on 02/11/2026 3:18:25 AM PST by TheThirdRuffian (Orange is the new brown)
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To: Drago

Someone discovered a jar of salsa from “New York City?!” and they created a security perimeter around the area to ensure no one touches it?


11 posted on 02/11/2026 3:24:07 AM PST by noiseman (The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.)
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To: Drago

I’m guessing incoming alien 👽 craft just to be different.


12 posted on 02/11/2026 3:30:24 AM PST by maddog55 (The only thing systemic in America is the left's hatred of it!)
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To: TheThirdRuffian

Thx for the realtime happening........scary.


13 posted on 02/11/2026 3:31:03 AM PST by Liz (Jonathan Swift: Government without the consent of the governed is the very definition of slavery.)
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To: Drago
Terror threat? Or???

Tarkus on the runway.

14 posted on 02/11/2026 3:34:53 AM PST by Sirius Lee ("Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.)
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To: Right_Wing_Madman; AFB-XYZ; RitaOK

There is currently an observation balloon (belongs to CBP) hanging SW of Fort Davis.


15 posted on 02/11/2026 3:38:37 AM PST by Cletus.D.Yokel (The Democrats' official policy is now, “Hate, Violence and Murder". Change my mind.)
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To: frank ballenger

:: Swarms of drones suddenly unleashed ::

This may not be very far off-target.


16 posted on 02/11/2026 3:40:14 AM PST by Cletus.D.Yokel (The Democrats' official policy is now, “Hate, Violence and Murder". Change my mind.)
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To: Right_Wing_Madman

If you’re looking for weird, White Sands missile range is near, as is the Trinity Site, Roswell and everything else that goes into such stories.

The sound I heard was extremely strange and long.

I’ve heard my share of jets and diesels and conventional and rocket artillery and this was something else.

The closet I’ve ever heard was turbine diesels for a frack job as they crank up and go for hours. This was not that.


17 posted on 02/11/2026 3:43:55 AM PST by TheThirdRuffian (Orange is the new brown)
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To: Drago

Lack of personal for air traffic control? TC systems failures?…..or aliens, either kind.


18 posted on 02/11/2026 3:45:36 AM PST by Envisioning (Carry safe, always carry, everyday, everywhere.)
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To: Drago

Sewer gas?


19 posted on 02/11/2026 3:46:57 AM PST by Mashood
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To: Drago
I just checked on ForeFlight, and the TFR says it is for a 10NM radius around essentially the El Paso airport, and up to 17,999’ MSL. If that were the whole thing, I would lean toward the MANPADs theory. The TFR extending to 17,999’ means that they wanted to leave Class A airspace, which starts at 18,000’, open for aircraft passing overhead at cruising altitude. That, and the 10NM radius would make sense because of the limited range of shoulder-fired missiles.

BUT, the fact that this TFR also includes a separate, fairly large area of airspace right against the Mexican border in a desolate area of southern New Mexico is strange if taking down commercial or other aircraft with MANPADs were the issue.

20 posted on 02/11/2026 3:57:45 AM PST by noiseman (The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.)
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