Flying to Mexico

I have a ton of time flying in and out of Mexico. If you have any questions PM me.

As for the experience. It is a bit different at every airport. But here are some general things.

eAPIS- It can be time consuming, but for part 91 flights you do not need a gen dec. remember that.

The Mexican Shuffle as I like to call it. When you land you have to go see Immigration first (MAKE SURE YOUR PAX GO!), fill out your visa information. Then you go to operations, close your flight plan. If you are going right back out then go ahead and fill out your outbound (Remember you HAVE to be on a flight plan in Mexico. VFR or IFR).
After this is done you will go see the Commendencia (He is the man). Show him proof of Mexican insurance, have copies of your certificate and medical for him. He will check everything and give you 4 copies of paperwork. Then you head back down to immigration and get all the forms stamped (They will take a copy). Then over to customs (again forms stamped and they keep one). Then back up to the Commendencia. He will take your flight plan and stamp it as well as the other two forms and keep one and give you one. Take your flight plan back to Operations and they will file it. You are finally done. I always took around 3000 pesos. Small tips to immigration and customs and about 200 to the Commendencia. It makes the process go by quicker.

We did not stay overnight down there, but we went to some of the more dangerous locations. Monterrey, Ciudad Victoria, Veracruze, Torrion and the like. As I said if you have any questions feel free to PM me.
 
FlyingScot said:
I finally got on with eAPIS turns out my gmail acct was just tossing my registration confirmation. When I was playing with it last night it had a place where I can look at previous flights as a template for future or return flights and pick and choose the routes and players from previous flights. Maybe they have just upgraded the eAPIS system. I found fltplan.com works well with Mexico flight planning, once I got the ICAO information plugged in correctly. Just in time as I am flying to Mexicali tonight.

Anyone know how to update departure or border crossing times before launch or in the air?
Click to expand...

Call CBP and just update them. BE SURE to give them notice of you coming back in country. You have to let them know an hour before. Otherwise you might face a 5,000 dollar fine! Update them if your time coming back changes. In McAllen they didn't care about 30 minutes, but if it was going to be longer just give them a call.
 
KLB said:
I've been asked about insurance and permits a time of two.

Other pilots and I routinely takea ground handler out to lunch.
Click to expand...

We get asked just about everytime and it now seems to be increasing.

avi8tor1983 said:
Call CBP and just update them. BE SURE to give them notice of you coming back in country. You have to let them know an hour before. Otherwise you might face a 5,000 dollar fine! Update them if your time coming back changes. In McAllen they didn't care about 30 minutes, but if it was going to be longer just give them a call.
Click to expand...

That is a biggie. I was in Laredo when a pilot came in and didn't notify customs. It was a very bad night for him to say the least. Customs has no sense of humor for that.
Laredo also makes smaller operators shut down completely, including the APU. They just recently started letting the bigger jets keep it running.

The biggest thing with Customs is just be polite and bite your tongue, unless absolutely necessary to get into it with them. They are holding all the cards and ocassionally make it up as they go. :mad:
 
Bandit_Driver said:
We get asked just about everytime and it now seems to be increasing.
Click to expand...
As a 91 operator, we're required to provide a COLOR copy of our Mexican insurance policy. The Mexican policy has to be purchased separately from your worldwide policy.

Bandit_Driver said:
That is a biggie. I was in Laredo when a pilot came in and didn't notify customs. It was a very bad night for him to say the least. Customs has no sense of humor for that.
Laredo also makes smaller operators shut down completely, including the APU.
Click to expand...

We were asked by CBP in PBI whether or not we were 91 or 135. Our "91" response was immediately followed by instructions to shut down the APU. Not sure why, but I really wanted to ask them if the fact that we were 91 made the APU more dangerous than one on a 135 aircraft.
 
TFaudree_ERAU said:
As a 91 operator, we're required to provide a COLOR copy of our Mexican insurance policy. The Mexican policy has to be purchased separately from your worldwide policy.



We were asked by CBP in PBI whether or not we were 91 or 135. Our "91" response was immediately followed by instructions to shut down the APU. Not sure why, but I really wanted to ask them if the fact that we were 91 made the APU more dangerous than one on a 135 aircraft.
Click to expand...

We have to have the color copy of the Mexican insurance in Spanish and English, A permit to operate in Mexico, and the world wide permit. Plus a couple of times they have wanted the aircraft reg too.

We used to have to shut down the APU because they said it was for officer safety and it messed with their radiation detectors. We complained as you can't refuel on an unpowered aircraft and it is more dangerous for their officers to be walking through a dark cargo deck with straps, cargo, and some times and uneven floor, or on a ball matt. Now the majority of time we don't shut down.
 
Bandit_Driver said:
We used to have to shut down the APU because they said it was for officer safety and it messed with their radiation detectors. We complained as you can't refuel on an unpowered aircraft and it is more dangerous for their officers to be walking through a dark cargo deck with straps, cargo, and some times and uneven floor, or on a ball matt. Now the majority of time we don't shut down.
Click to expand...

Apparently, there is a new guideline for CBP that says APUs with exhaust higher than 8 feet off the ground need not be shut down. Our Hawker certainly met that, and the Challenger looks like it does...we just make sure there aren't any tape measures laying around.
 
TFaudree_ERAU said:
Apparently, there is a new guideline for CBP that says APUs with exhaust higher than 8 feet off the ground need not be shut down. Our Hawker certainly met that, and the Challenger looks like it does...we just make sure there aren't any tape measures laying around.
Click to expand...

Unless you are in white plains, when suddenly, the hawker apu is much lower and will need to be shut down.
 
So my first trip to Mexico was a trial by fire. To get the full story I guess my work situation needs to be explained. My boss is a Mexican National with permanent US residence. His primary business is in Mexico. I am one of only 2 gringos in the company. While most everyone speaks perfect or passable English, a lot of conversations proceed rapidly in Spanish. My Spanish is such that I know what they are talking about but not necessarily what is being said. There is another pilot that is a Mexican national that has worked an office job, waiting for a plane to fly. They have had a C414 for 5 months before upgrading. The other pilot is not qualified to fly the B350 so I was hired. My Co-pilot’s visa was not renewed properly so he is locked out for a few months and I am flying solo or hiring someone for the trip if I feel the need.
I have spent the last week or so taking all the information you guys have given me to figure out this process. One stumbling block to my learning is the fact that I have not had to file a flight plan or cared about the weather other than “do I need an alternate” for 6 years. I have had dispatch to do that work for me. I have simply forgotten how to do these things. I have spent a large chunk of time staring at Fltplan.com and eAFIS wondering which box to check or button to click to make it do what I want it to.
The initial plan was for me to launch on Saturday and return that night. I get a call on Thursday night to plan for a Friday 5pm launch returning “sometime”. I know based on appointments and traffic we are not launching at 5 but get there at 330 anyways to make sure I get everything ready. I go in and confirm and print fltplan and eAPIS. It looked good. I had tried the same thing earlier in the week and although I thought I had the ftplan thing down, I could not make it happen and just went VFR the day I needed it. In retrospect I think there was a server issue then but I thought it was an ignorant ex-freight dog issue, so was a bit leery of my ability to file a flight plan.
Once this was done, I met with a JCer who has a thing for KA350s or probably all planes and showed him around. I then waited till 1800 for my boss to show up. We launched towards Mexicali for an easy flight. On the way over my boss tells me the 414 didn’t sell and is coming back I need to learn to fly it next week, also the daughter in law went into the hospital and although not “due” for a week, we may have to head home that night. As I approached I turned in ATIS but it was hard to understand and mostly blocked by center freq. Once I was able to hear it was all in very rapid Spanish. I thought Uh-Oh, at least the boss is up front to translate, then the ATIS went through again and it was in English as well, although I could not really understand it. The controller was also incomprehensible. I could pick out “wodger” from him. I was given the straight in but kept high till the last moment. It is only my 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] flight in the plane and was not sure of some of its capabilities. Once I realized I am not going to make straight in without possibly scarring my boss I asked for a 360. I can’t understand the response other than I think I hear 28, so I announce I am making a left downwind for 28. “Wodger” came my approval.
Upon landing I was greeted by my copilot that had whisked the paperwork through. At least twice we had to backup because the previous rubberstamp bearing official had done something wrong. Even though my co-pilot seemed to know most everyone personally it took more than an hour to get it all taken care of. Initially I participated in the process paying attention to what was going on then I concentrated on filing an eAPIS for a potential pop up flight home, occasionally pausing to sign something when needed.

I was then taken into town and put up in a hotel. It was much nicer than any my freight company had put me up for the night. At 1600 a night it should be. It had a swimming pool with waterfall, piano bar and other guests wearing sport coats. Even dressed up I still felt like an out of place freight dog. I will have to adjust to staying in quality digs.
After dinner I went up to my room and did some reading on CBP then was reading some on JC when the phone rang. I was told we got to fly back home, be at the hotel in 10 minutes. I realized my previously filled out eAPIS was not longer valid as I would be launching the next day, so I filed a new one as well as a fltplan.com plan. I got an email from eAPIS but it looked incomplete compared to the ones I had got on the way out of the U.S., it was much shorter. On the car ride over I realized my launch time was only 30 minutes from my file time and that is why I was having issues. Fortunately, I had stored the CPB office 24 hour number in my ipad earlier that night. I called that number to confirm my eAPIS was valid. The women on the phone just asked for some info like my name and phone #, passengers and nationalities, then told me if I did not hear back I was good to go. I then realized I needed a Mexican flight plan. I called my co-pilot and he was already on it. We came up with a route, then he called his buddy working the flt plan office. When I got to the airport I just walked up to the window signed the run sheet, which had been filled out, paid the fees and was at the plane before the boss could get the door open.
Once again in the air my life became easy and 30 minutes later I was back in the states. After landing at Brown Field I could see Customs agents approach the gate then disappear. After 10-15 minutes I called the 24 hour # again and asked why they did not come to the plane. I was given the number to the local office and they told me the gate code had been changed and they could not get in. I got permission to leave the plane and opened the gate for them. It took longer to clear customs in the US than it did in Mexico that night. I got home around 0330, and had an extra day off that weekend. This last week was spent doing MX and learning to fly a 414, which is much harder to fly than a King Air.
 
Caribbean and Latin American controller dialect is definitely, like beer, an "acquired taste". I had not done any flying in that part of the world for nearly a year, and we just got back from Cozumel. It took a few transmissions, but I think I'm all brushed up on my interpretations for a while.
 
I remember going down to Mex city and got an Alt assignment we thought was too low fir the route. We politely question and get. Altitude your discretion, radar terminated. Fun times.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top