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Experimental special authorization into Mexico

kaweeka

Well Known Member
I received an email through Baja Bush Pilots describing an arrangement for special authorization for experimental aircraft in Mexico. I emailed the link ([email protected]) and received a call back from the fellow. He described an arrangement whereby he and his "associates" hand walk your information and application through AFAC and the "right people" to obtain a completely legitimate and legal authorization for flight into Mexico. The first multi use permit needs to go through them but subsequent can be through any airport of entry. He states this is completely legitimate and official but a fee of $1700 with 50% due initially and the remaining 50% after receipt of the special authorization. He freely admits the $1700 is "special compensation" of the right government people to get the authorization. While I miss flying to Cabo, $1700 is quite a sum. I'm sure there are other BBP folks who received the same email and I would like feedback on this from others.
Thanks, David.
 
This seems to be the question of the day (year). I've heard varios things but no solid answers. $1700 seems pretty steep, but obviously you're paying the people that know the right people to get it approved.

I just sent this to the Mar de Cortés Airport in Puerto Peñasco (an international airport) just to see if I get a response. Years ago we were vacationing there and we drove to the airport just to check it out. It's not a very big airport but the people I talked to were really nice.

Hola buenas tardes. Tengo ganas de volar mi avioneta privada a México y sé todas las reglas para hacerlo, pero hay una que no entiendo exactamente. Es la regla sobre una autorización especial para avionetas con registros experimentales. Para volar ellas a México, necesitamos algo escrito desde el gobierno de México. ¿Usted sabe dónde podemos conseguir esto? ¿O a quién necesitamos enviar un correo electrónico? Gracias por su tiempo.

I'll send it to some other airports too, just to see if I get any kind of response.
 
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This seems to be the question of the day (year). I've heard varios things but no solid answers. $1700 seems pretty steep, but obviously you're paying the people that know the right people to get it approved.

I just sent this to the Mar de Cortés Airport in Puerto Peñasco (an international airport) just to see if I get a response. Years ago we were vacationing there and we drove to the airport just to check it out. It's not a very big airport but the people I talked to were really nice.

Hola buenas tardes. Tengo ganas de volar mi avioneta privada a México y sé todas las reglas para hacerlo, pero hay una que no entiendo exactamente. Es la regla sobre una autorización especial para avionetas con registros experimentales. Para volar ellas a México, necesitamos algo escrito desde el gobierno de México. ¿Usted sabe dónde podemos conseguir esto? ¿O a quién necesitamos enviar un correo electrónico? Gracias por su tiempo.

I'll send it to some other airports too, just to see if I get any kind of response.

PLEASE keep us posted! $1,700 is way too steep for my blood but this might be the start of something. :cool:
 
It would be interesting to see what exactly they're providing you. The multi-use permit sounds like the entry permit issued to any airplane landing in Mexico, either for multiple entries, or for just a single entry. So, I am interested to know whether the permit that they issue really is specifically for experimental aircraft, or whether it's simply a multiple entry permit, with no mention (thus, no clearance to operate) of the experimental nature of the aircraft.
 
Here is the What's App message I received regarding the requirements.

Good afternoon, I'm sending you the requirements:

1. Power of Attorney.

3. Certificate of Registration

4. Certificate of Airworthiness.

5. Worldwide Insurance or Mexican Insurance with payment receipt and stamp.

7. Current medical certificate.

8. Current pilot licenses.

9. Color of the Aircraft.

10. Photograph of the airplane.
 
This seems to be the question of the day (year). I've heard varios things but no solid answers. $1700 seems pretty steep, but obviously you're paying the people that know the right people to get it approved.

I just sent this to the Mar de Cortés Airport in Puerto Peñasco (an international airport) just to see if I get a response. Years ago we were vacationing there and we drove to the airport just to check it out. It's not a very big airport but the people I talked to were really nice.

Hola buenas tardes. Tengo ganas de volar mi avioneta privada a México y sé todas las reglas para hacerlo, pero hay una que no entiendo exactamente. Es la regla sobre una autorización especial para avionetas con registros experimentales. Para volar ellas a México, necesitamos algo escrito desde el gobierno de México. ¿Usted sabe dónde podemos conseguir esto? ¿O a quién necesitamos enviar un correo electrónico? Gracias por su tiempo.

I'll send it to some other airports too, just to see if I get any kind of response.

Thank you Jeff. That's very kind of you to do that. Please keep us informed of your findings.
 
Here is the What's App message I received regarding the requirements.

Good afternoon, I'm sending you the requirements:

1. Power of Attorney.

3. Certificate of Registration

4. Certificate of Airworthiness.

5. Worldwide Insurance or Mexican Insurance with payment receipt and stamp.

7. Current medical certificate.

8. Current pilot licenses.

9. Color of the Aircraft.

10. Photograph of the airplane.

That's all the normal info (except the photo of the airplane) required for a multi-entry permit..
 
Last visit

Last time I was visiting San Felipe by car, I stopped by the airport. Ther was a small business jet there, and additional two military planes with officers. The officers were providing security for the plane.
In mexico, do the Federales typical provide security at the small airports? Could this be the reason for the fee?
 
The fee is admittedly to grease the palms of the right people to walk the application through AFAC in Mexico City.
 
The fee is admittedly to grease the palms of the right people to walk the application through AFAC in Mexico City.
Or to grease the palm of the person sending out the eMail. Just like the "fee" charged by some "entrepreneurs" to file registration paperwork with the FAA here in the US. :eek:
 
Tijuana Bob

Last time I was visiting San Felipe by car, I stopped by the airport. Ther was a small business jet there, and additional two military planes with officers. The officers were providing security for the plane.
In mexico, do the Federales typical provide security at the small airports? Could this be the reason for the fee?
I have not been to Mexico in many years, but back then it was not uncommon to encounter the army at airports. One time, the army captain was asking me, in Spanish, about my flight plan form, which had been filled out by another Mexican official when we entered the country. I speak no Spanish, but thought he was pointing to our final destination box, so I started saying, ‘Tijuana! We’re going to Tijuana!’ My wife, who does speak Spanish, came running over yelling ‘No, it’s Roberto!’. Turned out he was asking for my first name, which the first official had omitted on the form. To this day my wife sometimes calls me Tijuana Bob. While all this was happening, the enlisted soldiers. Were unloading our bags, and putting them in our rental car. I couldn’t decide if a tip was in order, or if it would look like a bribe. I think I tried to politely offer a tip to the captain for his men, and he politely declined.
Back to the OP: I don’t think I want to participate in a bribery scheme to get into Mexico. At some point I will want to leave without hassle.
 
At this particular time you are really not missing much in Mexico. The State Department has put out a warning against US citizens traveling in Mexico. Primary concern is kidnapping. There is currently a cartel war going on in multiple locations, including the Baja peninsula. Kidnapping is rampant, along with other crime. There was a shootout in multiple locations across Juarez and the Mexican Army was sent it which only added to the carnage. Much of this is fueled by the current lucrative booming border crossing business. A few days ago cartel members carjacked two dozen cars in the state of Baja and proceeded to burn them. The State Department says that if you absolutely have to travel in Baja to do it during daylight only and with caution.

FMI: https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-state-department-issues-kidnapping-advisory-for-americans-in-mexico_4676628.html
 
At this particular time you are really not missing much in Mexico. The State Department has put out a warning against US citizens traveling in Mexico. Primary concern is kidnapping. There is currently a cartel war going on in multiple locations, including the Baja peninsula. Kidnapping is rampant, along with other crime. There was a shootout in multiple locations across Juarez and the Mexican Army was sent it which only added to the carnage. Much of this is fueled by the current lucrative booming border crossing business. A few days ago cartel members carjacked two dozen cars in the state of Baja and proceeded to burn them. The State Department says that if you absolutely have to travel in Baja to do it during daylight only and with caution.

FMI: https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-state-department-issues-kidnapping-advisory-for-americans-in-mexico_4676628.html
In years past, I would visit Mexico 2-3 times per year for diving. Loved the people, culture, geography, food. For the most part, I generally felt safe. These days, I can’t even imagine visiting there, let alone parking my airplane overnight.
 
What’s this about? Is there a thread on it too?

You might have to search for it, there is a couple of companies that tie up all the short N numbers and sell them to individuals. It seems like a scam to me, I have a long N number.
 
I spend six months a year in Mexico down the Baja coast and on the mainland side as far south as Manzanillo. Mexico is safer than a number of US cities, there is little to worry about so long as you are not purchasing drugs and running around like an idiot.

At this particular time you are really not missing much in Mexico. The State Department has put out a warning against US citizens traveling in Mexico. Primary concern is kidnapping. There is currently a cartel war going on in multiple locations, including the Baja peninsula. Kidnapping is rampant, along with other crime. There was a shootout in multiple locations across Juarez and the Mexican Army was sent it which only added to the carnage. Much of this is fueled by the current lucrative booming border crossing business. A few days ago cartel members carjacked two dozen cars in the state of Baja and proceeded to burn them. The State Department says that if you absolutely have to travel in Baja to do it during daylight only and with caution.

FMI: https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-state-department-issues-kidnapping-advisory-for-americans-in-mexico_4676628.html
 
Typically yes. But there is a cycle of cartel in-fighting that comes around every few years and it is best advised to avoid Mexico until one or the other side wins. Once there is a victor thee are years of peace until the next event.

But thankfully we are all free. So it's everybody's personal choice as to whether to travel in Mexico at this time. My personal choice is to wait until things have cooled down.

I grew up on the international border with Mexico and spent a good amount of time on the Southern side. My family had a farm in Los Mochis (Sinaloa). Fine dining, traditional hair cuts. College partying. Travel through the Barranca de Cobre and sierras. I have had employees held up at gun point right across the border and had a friend killed during the last cartel episode. I have land right against the Rio Grande and the border fence. I have been involved in the industrial warehouse development and maquila twin plant manufacturing industry in Mexico. I don't have a problem with traveling in Mexico except for during flare ups such as we are seeing right now.

Based on a lifetime of experience here I will heed the State Department's advice until things return to normal.

By the way. I have a collection of home-made ladders that keep showing up along our drainage canal along the border fence. Mostly two by fours. I could probably frame out a house with them by now.
 
I spend six months a year in Mexico down the Baja coast and on the mainland side as far south as Manzanillo. Mexico is safer than a number of US cities, there is little to worry about so long as you are not purchasing drugs and running around like an idiot.

Boy you are 100% right. FWIW most of the violence, not all, is concentrated along the Mexico/US border. :(
 
Going to re-up my Baja Bush membership and will watch closely. My hope is that somehow, someone figures out how to bypass the middle man that is planning of getting us for $1700. I'm in MX for work soon, so I'll plan a trip to an airport and see what can be found.
 
Watching this thread with interest in a Baja trip sometime... Surprised to see Baja fairly high on the list. Crime is one thing. But the kidnapping is very no bueno.

I have been doing missionary work in the Third World for 2 1/2 decades. I understand the culture of poverty very well and have watched it evolve over that period of time. Kidnappings in Haiti for example used to be quite rare. Now they’re very common. The thing that would give me pause flying my own airplane to any Mexican destination is a) the brutal violence associated with the cartels (unlike Haiti) and b) rich norteAmericanos wanting to fly their private airplanes into the country making for a tempting kidnapping target as well as a free airplane.

Just me, maybe… I love Mexico but in this environment, to me, the reward/risk ratio is simply way too low.
 
Everyone need to make their own risk/reward evaluation. But consider the facts:
USA 2,700 missing (out of 320,000,000) and not found people per year (0.000844%)
USA 20 citizens (out of 22 million visitors) missing in Mexico per year (0.000091%)

9X LESS chance being abducted in Mexico than the US. Visiting border towns is where the vast majority of abductions in Mexico happen so if you are flying into a city south of there your chances of crime against you are basically zero.
 
Everyone need to make their own risk/reward evaluation. But consider the facts:
USA 2,700 missing (out of 320,000,000) and not found people per year (0.000844%)
USA 20 citizens (out of 22 million visitors) missing in Mexico per year (0.000091%)

9X LESS chance being abducted in Mexico than the US. Visiting border towns is where the vast majority of abductions in Mexico happen so if you are flying into a city south of there your chances of crime against you are basically zero.
I appreciate your info. But you need to factor in the high visibility of a "rich" gringo buzzing into town in their own plane. This is a tiny fraction of the 22 million visitors going to Mexico. Just saying.
 
All airports have military guards, once you leave the airport you look like any other gringo.

I appreciate your info. But you need to factor in the high visibility of a "rich" gringo buzzing into town in their own plane. This is a tiny fraction of the 22 million visitors going to Mexico. Just saying.
 
Something to consider

One could argue that such a "grease payment" is outside the coverage of the FCPA, and that this isn't being done for any business purpose.

Still, participating in making cash payments to foreign government officials would give me the willies, and I would literally have to have a gun to my head first. (I can, of course, imagine such a scenario....)

Certainly if my flight to Mexico had *any conceivable* relationship to any business venture, I wouldn't touch anything like this with a 10-foot pole.

The FCPA is no joke.

This is not legal advice, you are not my client, I am not an expert in this area, only an idiot would pay attention to my views on this, etc. etc.

The fee is admittedly to grease the palms of the right people to walk the application through AFAC in Mexico City.
 
Having flown and driven into Mexico I can assure you that greasing one hand will have absolutely NO effect at your next point of contact. There is no way I'm gonna take my substantial investment into a country where bribes are a way of life....

-Marc
 
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