El Paso · Headline Desk

A hard year in the Borderplex, on the record

El Paso's overlapping 2026 emergencies — the airspace shutdowns, the medevac crash, the freeway toll, the refinery flares, the water outages — collected in one place, every item linked to the public reporting it came from.

5 storylines · 11 items · updated Aug 12, 2026

The sky: lasers, drones, and a grounded airport

A military counter-drone laser loaned to border agencies started firing near Fort Bliss without FAA coordination — shutting down El Paso's airspace once over what was reportedly a party balloon, then downing the government's own Border Patrol drone two weeks later.

Feb 10–11, 2026

FAA abruptly closes the airspace around El Paso International

The FAA imposed a surprise shutdown of airspace within roughly 10 miles of the airport, halting arrivals and departures, then lifted it within hours saying there was no threat to commercial aviation. Reporting traced the closure to an interagency clash: DHS/CBP had fired an Army-loaned counter-drone laser near Fort Bliss — later identified as AeroVironment's 20-kilowatt LOCUST — without coordinating with the FAA, at an object officials believed was a drone and later reportedly learned was a party balloon.

ABC News ↗NBC News ↗Axios ↗Al Jazeera ↗

Feb 27, 2026

Military laser shoots down a Border Patrol drone; more airspace closed

Two weeks after the balloon incident, the U.S. military used a laser to bring down a "seemingly threatening" drone near the border — which turned out to belong to Customs and Border Protection, lawmakers said. The FAA responded by closing more airspace near El Paso, the second laser takedown over Texas in a month. Members of Congress criticized the administration for sidestepping a bipartisan bill meant to improve coordination among the Pentagon, FAA, and DHS.

Washington Post ↗Texas Tribune ↗NPR ↗Houston Public Media ↗

The medevac crash: GPS jamming and four lives

A regional air-ambulance flight lost GPS during a White Sands Missile Range jamming exercise and flew into the Capitan Mountains, killing all four crew aboard — the first known case of U.S. military GPS jamming playing a role in downing a civilian aircraft in U.S. airspace.

May 14, 2026

Medevac flight crashes in the Capitans after losing GPS mid-exercise

Around midnight, the pilots of a Beechcraft King Air C90 medevac flight told air traffic control they had lost GPS signal. An operations supervisor asked the military to pause its White Sands jamming exercise, then called back to say it could resume as the plane neared Ruidoso; five minutes later the aircraft hit the mountainside. Killed were Generation Jets pilots Keelan Clark and Ali Kawsara and Trans Aero MedEvac flight nurses Sarah Clark and Jamie Novick.

Stars and Stripes ↗Snopes ↗Tom's Hardware ↗

Jul 31 – Aug 6, 2026

NTSB preliminary findings tie the crash to the jamming exercise

The NTSB's preliminary report confirmed GPS jamming was active in the area when the flight went down and laid out the timeline of calls between the operator and the military. Aviation-safety coverage flagged the case as a warning about the growing footprint of military GPS interference over civilian airspace in the El Paso–White Sands corridor.

DroneXL ↗Fox News ↗Futurism ↗

The freeways: a deadly year on I-10 and Loop 375

With the I-10 corridor torn up by construction, El Paso's freeway toll keeps climbing — the fatal-crash tracker counts dozens of deaths this year, I-10 leading the list, with mass-casualty pileups on Loop 375 and work-zone chain reactions.

Jan 1 – Aug 4, 2026

42 fatal crashes so far this year; I-10 tops the list

The El Paso Times' running fatal-crash tracker documents 42 fatal crashes county-wide through early August, with I-10 East and Loop 375 the deadliest corridors. Victims range from a 3-year-old child to an 86-year-old driver; causes include speeding, DWI, and pedestrian strikes.

El Paso Times (via Yahoo) ↗

Jul 14, 2026

Multi-casualty crash on Loop 375 at Montwood sends six to hospitals

El Paso Fire declared a multi-casualty incident after a crash on Loop 375 North at eastbound Montwood in Far East El Paso — six people transported, three with life-threatening injuries, with the FireSTAR medical helicopter called to respond.

KVIA ↗

2026

Work-zone chain reaction on I-10 kills an El Pasoan

A semi-truck entering an I-10 construction zone near Las Cruces rear-ended a passenger vehicle and set off a chain-reaction crash that killed Josie Cardona, 35, of El Paso — the kind of work-zone wreck TxDOT's own campaign warns about: Texas work zones saw more than 28,000 crashes and 203 deaths in 2025, numbers TxDOT El Paso highlighted during Work Zone Awareness Week in April.

El Paso Times (via Yahoo) ↗KVIA (work-zone safety) ↗

The refinery: Marathon's flares over South-Central

Repeated upsets at Marathon Petroleum's El Paso refinery have lit up the night sky and filled neighborhoods from Corbin Sambrano to Five Points with gas odors — with state filings showing releases far beyond permitted limits.

Aug 4–5, 2026

Refinery upset releases tons of gas over South-Central El Paso

TCEQ filings on the upset show roughly 4.4 tons of propylene and 19 pounds of 1,3-butadiene released in the first two hours alone, and a 24-hour sulfur-dioxide release of 862 pounds — reported as thousands of times over the permitted limit. Residents described burning eyes, strong odors reaching Five Points and Manhattan Heights, and a night kept awake by refinery alarms and sirens; a county commissioner demanded accountability after a TCEQ report contradicted the company's initial claims.

KTSM (emissions filings) ↗KTSM (commissioner) ↗CBS4 ↗

Aug 10, 2026

Large flares and gas emissions again alarm refinery neighbors

Days after the upset, large flares and fresh gas emissions at the refinery had residents filming flames from their front yards and questioning the neighborhood's future — with some saying flare activity has become notably more common, and at least one resident weighing whether to sell her home rather than keep exposing her grandchildren to overnight incidents.

KVIA ↗The Cool Down ↗

The water: a 36-inch main and 100,000 dry taps

January's unprecedented transmission-main failure left over 100,000 Northeast and Central El Paso residents with little or no water and days under a boil notice — and smaller breaks have kept coming since.

Jan 11, 2026

36-inch main break cuts water to 100,000+ residents

A major transmission main failed near Girl Scout Lane and Transmountain, draining reservoirs and leaving more than 100,000 people in Northeast and parts of Central El Paso with little or no water. Crews had to cut out and replace the damaged 36-inch segment while pumping the line dry; a boil-water notice stayed in effect after service returned because low reservoir levels raised contamination risk. The city stood up emergency water distribution while repairs ran around the clock.

KVIA ↗KFOX ↗City OEM ↗El Paso Water ↗

2026

Smaller breaks keep coming

Breaks have continued at smaller scale through the year — including a West El Paso main failure that left about 175 customers dry before service was restored — keeping attention on the age and condition of the distribution system.

KFOX (via Yahoo) ↗