Flying in Mexico - prohibited for Americans?

Got a reply...so it IS illegal for any US citizen to operate a drone in Mexico:

His first reply:

"It is correct, it is not possible to grant authorization for pilots and US companies to provide services to Drones to Mexico, until there is a bilateral agreement where the rules for their acceptance are established for both countries."​

I asked if this applied to both commercial and rec fliers; he replied: '

"Is correct, it that applies to both commercial & recreational fliers, and so is necessary obtain Bilateral Agreement between FAA and DGAC, for established the conditions and limitations for do it."​
What about for Canadians flying in Mexico?
 
So I've been trying to nail this down. I finally got a response from some Mexican authorities - here it is:

The Mexican regulation does not allow to give a permit to fly a Foreign Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) drone in Mexico. This prohibition is established in Circular Obligatoria CO AV-23/10 R3 paragraph 7.2.y). For your information the Circular Obligatoria aforementioned establishes the requirements and limitations to operate RPAS in Mexican airspace and it is in Spanish only. If you want, you could obtain a copy of the Circular Obligatoria in the following link:

http://www.sct.gob.mx/fileadmin/DireccionesGrales/DGAC-archivo/modulo3/co-av-23-10-r3.pdf

I send a reply asking if this means that US pilots cannot fly in Mexico. Awaiting a reply.

The linked document is NOT a text PDF - it is scans of documents..so untranslatable. Maybe we could pitch in to get it translated?
Can anyone update this topic. I'll be in Cancun in June 2017 and wanted to know if I would have issues with the authorities. Will Customs give me a problem? Just wanted to fly my Phantom Standard near the beach??
 
...just got a possible job shooting properties in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico - would REALLY like to know what I need to do to stay legal and NOT have my drones confiscated! - it seems the p4p is classified "micro" at <2kgs and so NO permits or license, BUT insurance is called out as necessary; anyone know how I should approach that hurdle? - thanks!
 
It's been a few months since we went to Puerto Vallarta but I didn't have any issues.
We did hit the red button in customs and they did lift the drone out of the case and asked, "phantom"?
I said yes and they asked dollar amount and put it back and we were on our way
Saw 2 other phantoms flying around Paradise marina and we even went to the beach and no problems
 
I'm going to be traveling to Cabo San Lucas with my Phantom 3 in August and am wondering how anyone's experience was through the customs there or in any Mexico customs was like. I've read some forms where people are getting taxed and some that aren't can anyone clarify this please.
 
I'm going to be traveling to Cabo San Lucas with my Phantom 3 in August and am wondering how anyone's experience was through the customs there or in any Mexico customs was like.
To save you from searching for my other posts...
I went to Cabo in March of this year.
I was too scared to bring my P4P, but I did take notice to see if I thought I should have brought it.
Through customs, I got the green light, so no one looked at any of our luggage. If you get the green light, then there will be no issues. However, if you get the red light and get searched, then I think it's the luck of the draw if anyone hassles you about your drone. I did not see anyone with a drone in customs, so no helpful data to provide.

However, once I got to "downtown" Cabo San Lucas, I asked everyone I could find: Federales with rifles, local police, resort security guards, etc. and all of them said it's no problem to fly a drone. In fact they seemed a little perplexed as to why I would even ask. They could not care less. I probably asked 8 different people and got the same response across the board.

I was also surprised that after spending a week on the beach and around Cabo, I never once saw a drone of any kind. I would have thought, with such relaxed rules, that I would see a lot of drones.

Anyway, that's about as much info as I have for you. Of course, there's no guarantees, so I take no responsibility for anything that happens to you or your drone. ;)

But in hindsight, I wish I would have brought my P4P.
 
I'll be traveling from the US to Mexico in February 2018 and was reading the forum and found this thread indicating that "foreigners" can't fly in Mexico... that led to more research and I found a link from 9/2017 (which chrome translated for me) that confirmed that, with a caveat:


4.7.17. RPAS with foreign registration or registration or operated by foreign RPAS operators for scientific purposes, must request permission from the Ministry of National Defense in compliance with article 29 section XVIII of the Organic Law of the Federal Public Administration.


4.7.18. A RPAS with foreign registration or registration or operated by foreign RPAS operators, other than those mentioned in paragraph 4.7.17 of this Official Mexican Standard, may not operate in Mexico, unless there is a bilateral agreement between the Aeronautical Authority and the Civil Aviation Authority of the registration / registration status.


I did not search to find out if the US has a 'bilateral agreement' yet. Am curious if anyone knows the status of any 'agreement' that may be in the works?


I've also attached a pdf.(DOF - Diario Oficial de la Federación).


Note too that there is a ‘new’ circular CO AV-23/10 R4 (revision 4; link was dated Dec 8, 2017).

However, the actual circular itself, once again as noted in this tread, could not be translated by chrome (too large).

<<The update of the regulatory framework of RPAS and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) continues. The publication of Revision 4 of Compulsory Circular CO AV-23/10, which establishes the requirements to operate a remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) in Mexican airspace, is scheduled for the next few days. (Trabaja la SCT en la regulación sobre sistemas de aeronaves pilotadas a distancia (RPAS), también llamadas “drones” | Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes | Gobierno | gob.mx)>>
 

Attachments

  • DOF - Official Gazette of the Federation.pdf
    803.6 KB · Views: 355
I was asked if I was interested in taking on a mapping job for a mining operation down there.

I passed. I'm not comfortable with greasing the palms of corrupt officials. Not my culture.

SB
 
FWIW, I took my P4P down to Cozumel this past June. Breezed through customs xrays with no problem and got the green light to get out. Had absolutely no problems flying around south of downtown, off the balcony of our hotel, and the wild east side.
 
I'll be traveling from the US to Mexico in February 2018 and was reading the forum and found this thread indicating that "foreigners" can't fly in Mexico... that led to more research and I found a link from 9/2017 (which chrome translated for me) that confirmed that, with a caveat:


4.7.17. RPAS with foreign registration or registration or operated by foreign RPAS operators for scientific purposes, must request permission from the Ministry of National Defense in compliance with article 29 section XVIII of the Organic Law of the Federal Public Administration.


4.7.18. A RPAS with foreign registration or registration or operated by foreign RPAS operators, other than those mentioned in paragraph 4.7.17 of this Official Mexican Standard, may not operate in Mexico, unless there is a bilateral agreement between the Aeronautical Authority and the Civil Aviation Authority of the registration / registration status.


I did not search to find out if the US has a 'bilateral agreement' yet. Am curious if anyone knows the status of any 'agreement' that may be in the works?


I've also attached a pdf.(DOF - Diario Oficial de la Federación).


Note too that there is a ‘new’ circular CO AV-23/10 R4 (revision 4; link was dated Dec 8, 2017).

However, the actual circular itself, once again as noted in this tread, could not be translated by chrome (too large).

<<The update of the regulatory framework of RPAS and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) continues. The publication of Revision 4 of Compulsory Circular CO AV-23/10, which establishes the requirements to operate a remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) in Mexican airspace, is scheduled for the next few days. (Trabaja la SCT en la regulación sobre sistemas de aeronaves pilotadas a distancia (RPAS), también llamadas “drones” | Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes | Gobierno | gob.mx)>>
When I spoke with a pretty high-up Mexican official about the "bilateral" agreement statement he was kinda tongue in cheek about it - it was when Trump was talking about the wall, i.e. there's virtually no chance of an agreement with the current US president.
 

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