The US military shot down a Border Protection drone, sparking a new airlock and derision from lawmakers.

The US government said it would improve inter-agency communication after the military reportedly used a laser to shoot down a Customs and Border Protection aircraft in Texas on Thursday.

Some Democratic members of Congress, including ranking members of the Homeland Security and Transportation committees, called the incident another example of “incompetence.”

It comes two weeks after CBP used a military laser to shoot down what turned out to be party balloons in Texas, prompting the temporary closure of El Paso’s airport.

The Pentagon, CBP and the Federal Aviation Administration acknowledged the latest incident in a joint statement Thursday. They said there are no commercial flights in the area.

“At the direction of President Trump, the Department of Defense, the FAA, and the Customs and Border Patrol are working together like never before to reduce drone threats posed by Mexican cartels and foreign terrorist organizations along the US-Mexico Border,” the agencies said in a statement.

“This reported engagement comes at a time when the Department of Defense is using its unmanned aircraft system authority to curtail a potentially threatening unmanned aircraft system operating over the military,” they said.

“These organizations will continue to work on increasing cooperation and communication in order to avoid similar incidents in the future,” said a joint statement.

The statement did not specify whether the CBP plane was hit.

The New York Times reported that “the Defense Department used a high-powered laser” to shoot down the speeding plane, citing four people familiar with the incident who were not authorized to discuss it publicly. Bloomberg reported the same, citing people familiar with the matter.

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, along with the ranking Democratic members of the House Transportation Committee and the ranking member of the Aviation Subcommittee, criticized the reported but unexplained error.

“Our heads are spinning with the news that the DoD has reportedly shot down a Customs and Border Protection special aircraft using a highly dangerous unmanned aircraft system,” they said in a joint statement.

They also criticized the Trump administration for “ignoring” a bipartisan bill to train drone operators and improve communication between the Pentagon, the FAA and the Department of Homeland Security.

“Now, we see the result of their incompetence,” they said.

The previous laser shooting was conducted by CBP near Fort Bliss, about 50 miles to the northwest, and prompted the FAA to close air traffic at the El Paso airport and the surrounding area. This time, the shutdown was minimal and commercial flights were not affected.

The FAA said earlier Thursday that it has extended the closure of the airspace around Fort Hancock.

The shutdown of El Paso two weeks ago lasted only a few hours but raised alarm and led to the cancellation of many flights in the city of nearly 700,000 people not far from the Mexican border.

NBC News previously reported that the shutdown occurred after CBP officers used a military-issued anti-drone laser to shoot down what were later identified as the group’s balloons, according to four people familiar with the matter.

CBP did so without contacting the FAA, four people said, and the FAA closed the airspace.

After that, the members of Congress said that it seems to be another example of inefficiency in the government when different agencies fail to cooperate.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he plans to brief members of Congress sometime this week on what happened. He said at an informal news conference last Friday that it was not a mistake for the FAA to close the El Paso airport and he does not think it was a communication problem that led to the problems.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, the ranking member of the Senate aviation committee, said the situation on Thursday was alarming and called for an independent investigation.

“The Trump administration’s incompetence continues to wreak havoc in our skies,” he said.

Duckworth, D-Ill., said the Defense Department reportedly used a “high-powered laser” to shoot down the drone.

An investigation into a collision last year near Washington, DC, between a helicopter and an Army helicopter that killed 67 people highlighted how poorly the FAA and the Pentagon were working together.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the FAA and the Army did not share safety information about the alarming number of near misses at Reagan National Airport and failed to address the risks.