During the spill response operations, at the request of the Coast Guard, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) implemented a 900 sq mi (2,300 km2) temporary flight restriction zone over the operations area.[173][174][175] Restrictions were to prevent civilian air traffic from interfering with aircraft assisting the response effort.[4] All flights in the operations' area were prohibited except flight authorized by air traffic control; routine flights supporting offshore oil operations; federal, state, local and military flight operations supporting spill response; and air ambulance and law enforcement operations.