We have quite a few hangar jockeys here at News24/680, folks who know their way around an aircraft’s control column or collective.
These folks are pretty well grounded (mentally) and connected, so as soon as they got word of last night’s NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) effectively grounding anything with wings or rotors within 30 nautical miles of the city of El Paso, Texas they started sending out some acronyms of their own – chiefly, WTF.
Aviation cognoscenti pinged us for information and weighed in with a variety of theories as to what was behind the unprecedented closure of American airspace. For several hours, before the edict was lifted early Wednesday morning, we heard mention of an UAP (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, ie “Close Encounters” mothership), a burgeoning military operation along the lines of what “Jiggs” Casey unraveled in “Seven Days in May,” a military incursion into Mexico and, finally, a military campaign against cartel drones overflying our big, beautiful wall.
The latter turned out to be the prevailing explanation, but not without some lingering doubt – this being ‘Merica and all. Administration officials explained that Mexican cartel drones had breached American airspace and the Defense Department had “disabled” them.
The FAA announcement came about six hours after its NOTAM, declaring that no flights would be able to operate in airspace over El Paso and the neighboring community of Santa Teresa, New Mexico for 10 days between Feb. 11 and Feb. 21. It listed the reason as “temporary flight restrictions for Special Security Reasons.”
Well, Hoorah and Aunt Jemima’s Biscuits, that’s all it took. The aviation community was justly rattled, especially since Tuesday’s order was the first of its kind issued since the September 11 terror attacks.
The FAA, responsible for U.S. airspace, did not elaborate on why it was grounding everything over El Paso which, of course, borders Mexico and the city of Ciudad Juárez, saying only that the airspace had been declared national defense airspace – and adding that deadly force could be used on aircraft deemed to “pose an imminent security threat.”
Pilots violating the order could be “intercepted, detained and interviewed” by law enforcement and security personnel, according to the NOTAM, effectively grounding dozens of area pilots known to overfly the area in their vintage WWII warbirds.
“What the hell is happening?” one frustrated Flap Jockey wrote. “My buddies are going nuts!”
Of course we weren’t of much help at O Early Thirty here in California, reminding folks that while we have time in various aircraft we washed out of flight school ’cause of the Vole Vision, Knock Knees, and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome that comes to us Keyboard Pilots.
Still, it was fun talking with you all. For now, though, it’s back up the air Junior Birdmen – until the next drone incursion, Alien rendezvous or attempted coup. Soft landings.
Someone didn’t get the memo???
A party balloon. All that for some kids birthday balloon.