PLAINS, Georgia: Jimmy Carter ‘s long public goodbye began Saturday in south Georgia where the 39th US president’s life began more than 100 years ago.
A motorcade with Carter’s flag-draped casket is heading to his hometown of Plains and past his boyhood home on the way to Atlanta. The procession began at the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, where former Secret Service agents who protected the late president served as pallbearers. A mournful train whistle filled the clear air as the pallbearers turned to face the hearse for a final goodbye, their hands on their hearts.
The Carter family, including the former president’s four children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, are accompanying their patriarch as his six-day state funeral begins.
The longest-lived US president, Carter died at his home in Plains on Dec. 29 at the age of 100.
Families lined the procession route in downtown Plains, near the historic train depot where Carter headquartered his presidential campaign. Some carried bouquets of flowers or wore commemorative pins bearing Carter’s photo.
“We want to pay our respects,” said 12-year-old Will Porter Shelbrock, who was born more than three decades after Carter left the White House in 1981. “He was ahead of his time on what he tried to do and tried to accomplish.”
It was Shelbrock’s idea to make the trip to Plains from Gainesville, Florida, with his grandmother, Susan Cone, 66, so they could witness the start of Carter’s final journey. Shelbrock said he admires Carter for his humanitarian work building houses and waging peace, and for installing solar panels on the White House.
Carter and his late wife Rosalynn, who died in November 2023, were born in Plains and lived most of their lives in and around the town, with the exceptions of Jimmy’s Navy career and his terms as Georgia governor and president.
The procession will stop in front of Carter’s home on his family farm just outside of Plains. The National Park Service will ring the old farm bell 39 times to honor his place as the 39th president. Carter’s remains then will proceed to Atlanta for a moment of silence in front of the Georgia Capitol and a ceremony at the Carter Presidential Center.
There, he will lie in repose until Tuesday morning, when he will be transported to Washington to lie in state at the US Capitol. His state funeral is Thursday at 10 a.m. at Washington National Cathedral, followed by a return to Plains for an invitation-only funeral at Maranatha Baptist Church.
He will be buried near his home, next to Rosalynn Carter.
![]()
Jimmy Carter’s 6-day funeral begins with a motorcade through south Georgia
Short Url
https://arab.news/8x9p3
Jimmy Carter’s 6-day funeral begins with a motorcade through south Georgia
- A motorcade with Carter’s flag-draped casket is heads to his hometown of Plains
- The 39th US president died at his home on Dec. 29 at the age of 100
El Paso flights resume after US anti-drone system prompts sudden shutdown
- Aviation officials lifts restrictions after sudden overnight halt
- FAA, US Army in dispute over laser anti-drone system
WASHINGTON: A secret military laser-based anti-drone system prompted the Trump administration to ban air traffic for more than seven hours in and out of the Texas border city of El Paso after US aviation officials raised drastic concerns about the safety of commercial air traffic.
The sudden closure of the nation’s 71st busiest airport by the Federal Aviation Administration stranded air travelers and disrupted medical evacuation flights overnight. The FAA initially said the closure would last 10 days for “special security reasons,” in what would have been an unprecedented action involving a single airport. Government and airline officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the FAA closed the airspace due to concerns that an Army laser-based counter-drone system could pose risks to air traffic. The two agencies had planned to discuss the issue at a February 20 meeting but the Army opted to proceed without FAA approval, sources said, which prompted the FAA to halt flights.
The Army’s laser was a direct-energy weapon called LOCUST and is manufactured by AeroVironment, a Virginia-based drone and counter-drone defense firm, two people briefed on the matter said. The company and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The FAA lifted its restrictions after the Army agreed to more safety tests before using the system, which is housed at Fort Bliss, next to El Paso International Airport.
The White House was surprised by the El Paso airspace closure, according to two sources speaking on condition of anonymity, touching off a scramble among law enforcement agencies to figure out what happened.
The FAA lifted the restrictions shortly after the situation was discussed in the office of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, the sources said. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who oversees the FAA, said the closure had been prompted by a drone incursion by a Mexican drug cartel. However, a drone sighting near an airport would typically lead to a brief pause on traffic, not an extended closure, and the Pentagon says there are more than 1,000 such incidents each month along the US-Mexico border.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford met senators on Wednesday and told them there could have been better coordination about the move but did not answer detailed questions about why the agency initially planned a 10-day halt to flights, lawmakers said. Senate Commerce Committee chair Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, and Senator Ben Ray Lujan, a New Mexico Democrat, both called for a classified briefing to get more answers. “The details of what exactly occurred over El Paso are unclear,” Cruz said.
The move had stranded numerous aircraft from Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines at the airport, which handles about 4 million passengers annually.
El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson said the FAA did not reach out to the airport, the police chief or other local officials before shutting down the airspace.
“I want to be very, very clear that this should have never happened,” he said at a news conference.
The US official in charge of airport security, Transportation Security Administration Acting Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill, also told Congress that she had not been notified.
“That’s a problem,” said Republican Representative Tony Gonzales of Texas, who said there are daily drone incursions along the US-Mexico border.
Airlines caught off guard
Airlines were also caught off-guard by the early Wednesday announcement. Southwest Airlines said the effects should be minimal for its 23 daily departures scheduled.
“FAA has not exactly acquitted itself credibly, objectively, or professionally,” said Bob Mann, an airline industry consultant. “The question should be, do we get an explanation?”
Trump has repeatedly threatened to deploy US military force against Mexican drug cartels, which have used drones to carry out surveillance and attacks on civilian and government infrastructure, according to US and Mexican security sources.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said at her daily news conference that her administration would try to find out what exactly happened but had no information about drone traffic along the border.
Tensions between the US and regional leaders have ramped up since the Trump administration mounted a large-scale military buildup in the southern Caribbean, attacked Venezuela and seized its president, Nicolas Maduro, in a military operation. The FAA curbed flights throughout the Caribbean after the attack, forcing the cancelation of hundreds of flights.
The sudden closure of the nation’s 71st busiest airport by the Federal Aviation Administration stranded air travelers and disrupted medical evacuation flights overnight. The FAA initially said the closure would last 10 days for “special security reasons,” in what would have been an unprecedented action involving a single airport. Government and airline officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the FAA closed the airspace due to concerns that an Army laser-based counter-drone system could pose risks to air traffic. The two agencies had planned to discuss the issue at a February 20 meeting but the Army opted to proceed without FAA approval, sources said, which prompted the FAA to halt flights.
The Army’s laser was a direct-energy weapon called LOCUST and is manufactured by AeroVironment, a Virginia-based drone and counter-drone defense firm, two people briefed on the matter said. The company and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The FAA lifted its restrictions after the Army agreed to more safety tests before using the system, which is housed at Fort Bliss, next to El Paso International Airport.
The White House was surprised by the El Paso airspace closure, according to two sources speaking on condition of anonymity, touching off a scramble among law enforcement agencies to figure out what happened.
The FAA lifted the restrictions shortly after the situation was discussed in the office of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, the sources said. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who oversees the FAA, said the closure had been prompted by a drone incursion by a Mexican drug cartel. However, a drone sighting near an airport would typically lead to a brief pause on traffic, not an extended closure, and the Pentagon says there are more than 1,000 such incidents each month along the US-Mexico border.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford met senators on Wednesday and told them there could have been better coordination about the move but did not answer detailed questions about why the agency initially planned a 10-day halt to flights, lawmakers said. Senate Commerce Committee chair Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, and Senator Ben Ray Lujan, a New Mexico Democrat, both called for a classified briefing to get more answers. “The details of what exactly occurred over El Paso are unclear,” Cruz said.
The move had stranded numerous aircraft from Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines at the airport, which handles about 4 million passengers annually.
El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson said the FAA did not reach out to the airport, the police chief or other local officials before shutting down the airspace.
“I want to be very, very clear that this should have never happened,” he said at a news conference.
The US official in charge of airport security, Transportation Security Administration Acting Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill, also told Congress that she had not been notified.
“That’s a problem,” said Republican Representative Tony Gonzales of Texas, who said there are daily drone incursions along the US-Mexico border.
Airlines caught off guard
Airlines were also caught off-guard by the early Wednesday announcement. Southwest Airlines said the effects should be minimal for its 23 daily departures scheduled.
“FAA has not exactly acquitted itself credibly, objectively, or professionally,” said Bob Mann, an airline industry consultant. “The question should be, do we get an explanation?”
Trump has repeatedly threatened to deploy US military force against Mexican drug cartels, which have used drones to carry out surveillance and attacks on civilian and government infrastructure, according to US and Mexican security sources.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said at her daily news conference that her administration would try to find out what exactly happened but had no information about drone traffic along the border.
Tensions between the US and regional leaders have ramped up since the Trump administration mounted a large-scale military buildup in the southern Caribbean, attacked Venezuela and seized its president, Nicolas Maduro, in a military operation. The FAA curbed flights throughout the Caribbean after the attack, forcing the cancelation of hundreds of flights.
Latest updates
Recommended
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.