FAA says all flights stopped at El Paso airport for 10 days for 'special security reasons'

The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday that all flights are stopped at El Paso International Airport in Texas for 10 days for "special security reasons."

“No pilots may operate an aircraft in the areas covered by this [Notice to Airmen],” the FAA said, NBC News reported. The reason was listed as “temporary flight restrictions for Special Security Reasons.”

The restriction applies to the airspace over El Paso and the neighboring community of Santa Teresa, New Mexico.

The airport posted on Instagram on Wednesday, saying, "All flights to and from El Paso are grounded, including commercial, cargo and general aviation. The FAA has issued a flight restriction halting all flights to and from El Paso effective from February 10 at 11:30 PM (MST) to February 20 at 11:30PM (MST). Travelers should contact their airlines to get most up-to-date flight status information."

The notice said the airspace was classified as national defense airspace. Deadly force could be used on an aircraft if it is determined that it “poses and [sic] imminent security threat,” according to the notice, adding that pilots “may be intercepted, detained and interviewed” by law enforcement and security personnel.

Major U.S. airlines, including Southwest, Delta, United, and American have flights that depart from the airport.

An American Airlines flight from Chicago landed at the airport at 10:57 p.m. local time Tuesday, the last flight to arrive before airspace closed, according to flight-tracking platform Flightradar24.