FAA just announced a 10 day emergency temporary restricted area for a 10 mile radius around El Paso.

[mattblaze@federate.social]

FAA just announced a 10 day emergency temporary restricted area for a 10 mile radius around El Paso. No flights are permitted from ground level to 18000 feet, grounding all flights to/from the El Paso airport (KELP).

Designed as “national defense airspace”, with “deadly force authorized if aircraft determined to pose a security threat”.

No reason given

[ben@bluetoot.hardill.me.uk]

@mattblaze I think the red flag exercise is running at the moment, which I think is in that area of the world

Scratch that, Red flag is Nevada (Nellis)

[mattblaze@federate.social]

Fort Bliss / Briggs Army Airfield is within the restricted area, which may or may not be related.

[mattblaze@federate.social]

@ben yeah, almost definitely not that. This was sudden and closes a large civil airport.

[mattblaze@federate.social]

This is very unusual. Aside from the disruption- it closes a large metropolitan airport for 10 days- no advance notice was given. So this isn’t for some planned event or operation.

[me_valentijn@m.ai6yr.org]

@mattblaze
Shutting down a major international airport for 10 days is insane. It'll be impacting something in the neighborhood of 100,000 passengers, plus medical flights, etc.

[me_valentijn@m.ai6yr.org]

@mattblaze
Only "rational" explanation I can come up with is using it to launch a war with Mexico, seize some territory or whatever, being as it's right on the border. But that's not rational either 😬

[kow@infosec.exchange]

@mattblaze is that where they were shipping immigrants? Response to ice?

[gray_witch@mastodon.social]

@me_valentijn @mattblaze
The current administration is very far from rational.

[dougcuff@mstdn.ca]

@mattblaze Because of the base that ICE established at Fort Bliss?

[douglevin@infosec.exchange]

@mattblaze Struck me as highly atypical as well. Are you aware of a precedent (beyond 9/11, if even that was)?

[douglevin@infosec.exchange]

@mattblaze CNN news clip: https://youtu.be/r6c9uacOOiQ?si=KwgJ9wbzBTbe5RPC

[mattblaze@federate.social]

@douglevin nope.

[joyce@hcommons.social]

@mattblaze @douglevin

I just hope it's not an attempt to stave off a new pandemic of some kind.

[ginevracat@toot.community]

@mattblaze Wow.

[khleedril@cyberplace.social]

@mattblaze Probably another Trump whim.

[jennifer@m.ai6yr.org]

@joyce @mattblaze @douglevin sadly I think the people in charge don't care about pandemics so that probably isn't it. Maybe we're invading Mexico 🤪 Pretty disturbing they didn't provide a reason

[joyce@hcommons.social]

@Jennifer @mattblaze @douglevin

You're probably right. Just an early-morning scary thought.

[tinker@infosec.exchange]

@mattblaze - Yeah, this is weird. The airport didn't know why. The city govt didnt know why. Even the FAA's own Special Operations Support Center didnt know why.

The abruptness and lack of coordination - on top of the length of period and complete lockdown even of medical, military, and police (in addition to cargo and passenger) air - is astounding.

[tinker@infosec.exchange]

@mattblaze - My gut tells me this is probably being done for some stupid or contrived (or at least blown out of proportion) reason. Whoever (full chain of command such as it is) issued this probably doesnt know or care about the consequences and ramifications of these actions.

But I have no idea.

Hide and watch for the time being, I guess.