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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) restricted flights on Thursday near Fort Hancock, Texas, after a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) drone was reportedly shot down by a laser system used by the Pentagon.
Although federal agencies have not yet identified the identity of the drone, top Democrats on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee issued a joint statement Thursday evening saying the drone belonged to CBP.
US Attorneys Rick Larsen, Bennie Thompson and Andre Carson said their “heads are exploding with the news” that the CBP drone was shot down by the Pentagon in “a very dangerous unmanned aerial vehicle program.”
The legislators added that the incident was “a consequence [the White House’s] inefficiency” after a “short-sighted” decision to “skip a bipartisan, single-committee bill to properly train C-UAS operators and address the lack of coordination between the Pentagon, DHS and the FAA.”
The FAA has added a temporary flight restriction near Fort Hancock, Texas, after lawmakers said a Pentagon counter-drone system may have shot down a US government aircraft. (Stock)
In a joint statement provided to Fox News Digital, the Department of Defense, CBP and FAA said the DoW deployed the unmanned aerial vehicle system in response to “an apparent threat to the unmanned aircraft system operating within a military aircraft.”
The departments said the interaction took place “far from populated areas and there were no commercial aircraft in the area,” adding that they would “continue to work to increase cooperation and coordination to avoid similar incidents in the future.”
The departments said they are “working together like never before to reduce drone threats posed by Mexican cartels and foreign terrorist organizations along the US-Mexico border.”
“The bottom line is that the Trump Administration is doing more to protect the border and crack down on cartels than any administration in history,” the statement said.
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Congressional aides told Reuters that the Pentagon reportedly used a high-powered laser system to accidentally shoot down a CBP plane near the Mexican border, an area that often sees infiltration by drones believed to be used by Mexican drug cartels.
The FAA told Fox News Digital that a temporary flight restriction (TFR) is “already in place” in the Fort Hancock area and that the TFR has been “expanded to include a larger radius to ensure safety.”
The restriction does not affect commercial flights, the agency said.
The FAA said in a Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) that airspace around Fort Hancock is temporarily restricted “for special security reasons.”
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The restriction comes weeks after the FAA suspended flights to and from El Paso International Airport for 10 days before issuing the order about eight hours later.
Drones used by Mexican drug cartels breached US airspace earlier this month near El Paso International Airport in Texas, prompting the FAA to temporarily close the airport. (Kirby Lee/Getty Images)
A Trump administration official previously told Fox News that the initial shutdown was in response to “Mexican drones” violating US airspace.
An American official later confirmed that the US military had shot down what was later determined to be a group balloon near El Paso.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment and was directed to a joint statement issued by the Department of Defense, Customs and Border Patrol and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom and Reuters contributed to this report.
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