Flying Into Mexican Airspace

Not the whole flight, but the El Paso area has an LOA for allowing over-flight of Juarez MX airspace in certain situations. If you try cruising the Mexican side (if approved), you can pretty much guarantee your fuel stop will have to be a U.S. port of entry.

I've lived here for years, and what you want to do used to be allowed and approved with a "wink wink" ... now there are Barney Fife types everywhere just itching to harass ...
 
danhagan said:
Not the whole flight, but the El Paso area has an LOA for allowing over-flight of Juarez MX airspace in certain situations. If you try cruising the Mexican side (if approved), you can pretty much guarantee your fuel stop will have to be a U.S. port of entry.

I've lived here for years, and what you want to do used to be allowed and approved with a "wink wink" ... now there are Barney Fife types everywhere just itching to harass ...
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I actually want to stay on the US side the whole time, but thought flying in Mexican airspace would help solve the problem of the two prohibited areas in western Arizona. That's the only segment where I was thinking I might be able to fly over Mexico. That's only about 80 or 90 miles of border. I don't plan on landing in Mexico at all on the trip. While it would BE harmless for me to fly right over the border, or slightly on our side (even on the edge of the prohibited area) or slightly on their side, many modern day Americans (and government employees) are all in favor of throwing people in prison or ruining their lives in a variety of other ways for not obeying our overlords, even if there are no victims. Thus my attempt to do this by the book.
 
Another item - Are you basic med or 3rd class? I don’t believe Mexico (or Canada) recognizes basic.
 
Plano Pilot said:
Mexico has overflight fees.

https://www.fltplan.com/mexicanoverflight.htm
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So, if I don't care about getting clearance into Mexico in the future, looks like I could simply ignore that (possibly not the best choice), or I could just fly on down to San Felipe as someone else (in another thread) suggested I do. That actually could be a reasonable solution to my potential problem (if I don't get cleared through the R-2301). That fee is waived if I actually land in Mexico. Options are good.
 
The Scottsdale FSDO gave me this kind response:

You can try calling Albuquerque Center via telephone in advance to coordinate the best time/date to get a clearance through the restricted airspace that you referred to in your email. The main number is: 505-856-4300 and is available from 7:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. MST.

Note: the phone numbers for ATC can be found in the current chart supplement for future use.

I'll plan on giving Albuquerque Center a phone call and see what they say.
 
birdus said:
While it would BE harmless for me to fly right over the border, or slightly on our side (even on the edge of the prohibited area) or slightly on their side, many modern day Americans (and government employees) are all in favor of throwing people in prison or ruining their lives in a variety of other ways for not obeying our overlords, even if there are no victims. Thus my attempt to do this by the book.
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That was allowed in the El Paso sector years ago, and us locals would request "the southern corridor" which translated to "we'll be directly over the border Rio Grande river" ...

birdus said:
I'll plan on giving Albuquerque Center a phone call and see what they say.
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Good idea. Vlad over at Vansairforce.net (RV9a) got to ride the border in that area during good weather, but not sure how he got the clearance. I got cleared through all the AZ restricted areas years ago, but it was because the cloud bases weren't very high. so the military wasn't using the areas ... that and it was July 4th didn't hurt. Needed to deviate as the entire norther AZ was getting absolutely hammered with TS activity, so no way to proceed along the I-10 stretch or near PHX.
 
birdus said:
The Scottsdale FSDO gave me this kind response:

You can try calling Albuquerque Center via telephone in advance to coordinate the best time/date to get a clearance through the restricted airspace that you referred to in your email. The main number is: 505-856-4300 and is available from 7:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. MST.

Note: the phone numbers for ATC can be found in the current chart supplement for future use.

I'll plan on giving Albuquerque Center a phone call and see what they say.
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In other words "RTFM and leave us alone" :lol:

You might want to google earth that part of the border. One moon crater looks the same as another to me, whether it's US or Mexican, but I may not understand the novelty. Good luck with what you're doing.
 
birdus said:
I'll plan on giving Albuquerque Center a phone call and see what they say.
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I suspect you can easily get a clearance on many weekends and it will very difficult to get one during the week when there tends to be a lot of activity on the Goldwater Range. It is used by a variety of nearby stations and bases as their primary gunnery range.
 
The idea of Mexican airspace and landing in Mexico isn’t appealing to me FWIW. Heck - I’m not even comfortable with Cancun and other vacation spots anymore. It’s just gotten too odd down there.
 
WDD said:
The idea of Mexican airspace and landing in Mexico isn’t appealing to me FWIW. Heck - I’m not even comfortable with Cancun and other vacation spots anymore. It’s just gotten too odd down there.
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Yeah, I'm not really feeling inclined to do that, either, and, as a new pilot, I'm already going to have my hands full.
 
WDD said:
The idea of Mexican airspace and landing in Mexico isn’t appealing to me FWIW. Heck - I’m not even comfortable with Cancun and other vacation spots anymore. It’s just gotten too odd down there.
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it’s reasonably simple. If you’re uncomfortable with something, don’t do it. That’s not rocket surgery.

From my own experience I have maintained good relationships with the commandants of most all the airports I have used and enjoy the relaxed atmosphere.

You probably shouldn’t.
 
Rgbeard said:
From my own experience I have maintained good relationships with the commandants of most all the airports I have used and enjoy the relaxed atmosphere.
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Good to hear you've had good experiences, and thanks for sharing. Sounds like you personally know the air port commandants, and have road tested these specific airports to make sure you don't end up in someones trunk waiting for a ransom.

I personally don't know however which airports / which areas of Mexico that would have small airports that I could land in and be safe. I would say - outside of Portland perhaps ;)- I could land in any airport in the US and not be concerned about bad things happening.
 
My buddy just did this a few days ago. He called the FSS and was told it was fine. Just request a squawk for the ADIZ like you would to enter the US and fly as you desire.
 
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