The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday issued advisories urging U.S. airline pilots to “exercise caution” when flying above the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico, Central America, Colombia and Ecuador, and above the Gulf of California, due to military activities and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) interference.
The notices, The New York Times reported, were “similar to advisories the FAA issued last year for areas around Venezuela and the Caribbean Sea as the U.S. military stepped up a campaign of boat strikes targeting what it said were drug smugglers.”
“The FAA issued more urgent warnings earlier this year as the United States undertook an operation to capture Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s leader,” the Times added.
The newspaper also reported that “it was not immediately clear what prompted the FAA to issue Friday’s advisories.”
In a statement, Mexico’s Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport (SICT) described the FAA’s advice as a precautionary measure and asserted that there was no change to operating conditions in Mexican airspace.
On Sunday, President Claudia Sheinbaum said that the United States wasn’t conducting any military activity in “national territory.”
However, a U.S. military plane landed at Toluca airport on Saturday to pick up Mexican security officials and take them to the U.S. for training, according to Sheinbaum.
The FAA’s issuance of seven NOTAMs (notices to airmen) came eight days after U.S. President Donald Trump said that the United States was “going to start now hitting land, with regard to the cartels.”
FAA: ‘Potential risks exist for aircraft at all altitudes’
Each of the seven NOTAMs issued by the FAA last Friday warned of “potentially hazardous” situations in overwater areas.
One of the NOTAMs referred specifically to the “Mexico Flight Information Region,” the airspace for which Mexican air traffic services are responsible. Another referred to the Mazatlán Oceanic Flight Information Region, which encompasses airspace off Mexico’s Pacific coast.
“U.S. operators are advised to exercise caution when operating in the overwater areas above the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California in the Mexico Flight Information Region (MMFR) due to military activities and GNSS interference. Potential risks exist for aircraft at all altitudes, including during overflight and the arrival and departure phases of flight,” states NOTAM A0018/26.
“This NOTAM applies to all U.S. air carriers and commercial operators; all persons exercising the privileges of an airman certificate issued by the FAA, except such persons operating U.S.-registered aircraft for a foreign air carrier; and all operators of civil aircraft registered in the United States, except when the operator of such aircraft is a foreign air carrier.”
The FAA issued a NOTAM with the same message for U.S. operators in the Mazatlán Oceanic Flight Information Region.
The FAA also issued NOTAMs for areas above the Pacific Ocean in the Central America Flight Information Region, the Bogotá Flight Information Region, the Guayaquil Flight Information Region, the Panama Flight Information Region and a portion of the “NO FIR AREA” — i.e., an area not in a designated flight information region.
The validity of each of the NOTAMs is from Jan. 16 to Mar. 17. The two-month validity of the NOTAMs suggests “a prolonged period of possible military planning in the region,” The New York Times reported.
Writing about the FAA warnings in his publication The Mexico Political Economist, Alex González Ormerod said that “it is less likely that this is a reference to an impending strike and more about continuing and increas[ing] covert surveillance operations over Mexican skies by U.S. forces.”
SICT: No ‘operational implications or restrictions’ for Mexico or Mexican airlines
Apparently referring to the NOTAM for the Mexico Flight Information Region, the SICT described the FAA notice as being of a “preventive nature.”
“It is important to specify that this NOTAM does not constitute a prohibition, but is rather a precautionary measure aimed at reinforcing attention and care in air operations within certain regions of airspace. There are no operational implications or restrictions for Mexico, or Mexican airlines or operators,” the ministry said.
Citing information from the FAA, the SICT also said that the NOTAM was “issued exclusively for United States civil [aviation] operators, including its airlines and pilots, since that authority only has jurisdiction to issue provisions applicable to operators from its own country.”
The ministry noted that similar NOTAMs were previously issued by the FAA for the “Caribbean region.”
“The SICT reiterates that there is no impact whatsoever on civil aviation in Mexico, nor any changes in the operating conditions of national airspace,” the statement said.
SICT added that it “maintains constant communication with international aeronautical authorities to monitor this type of notice within the framework of cooperation and operational safety.”
Sheinbaum: No US military action in Mexico
During a visit to San Miguel de Allende on Sunday, Sheinbaum was asked what kind of “maneuvers” the United States was carrying out in Mexico.
“Nothing. … The SICT issued a statement,” she said. “Nothing in national territory.”
Sheinbaum has asserted on repeated occasions that the United States won’t conduct any kind of unilateral military intervention against cartels in Mexico, even though Trump has said things such as “strikes in Mexico to stop drugs” are “OK” with him.
After a call with the U.S. president last Monday, Sheinbaum said that the land strikes on cartels that Trump had spoken about days earlier could be ruled out.
Nevertheless, Trump’s recent remarks, and the United States’ operation in Venezuela on Jan. 3, have increased expectations that the U.S. military could indeed take action against cartels in Mexico. The U.S. military has already attacked at least one alleged drug boat off Mexico’s Pacific coast, although the strike occurred in international waters.
While Sheinbaum said Sunday that the U.S. wasn’t carrying out any “maneuvers” in Mexico, a U.S. military plane did land at Toluca airport on Saturday.
The federal government’s Security Cabinet said Sunday that its “presence” was the result of a “flight authorized by Mexican authorities” and was related to “training activities.”
Sheinbaum said on Monday morning that the flight was authorized last October and “had to do with a training issue.”
“… It’s not something exceptional,” said the president, who stressed that no U.S. troops had come into the country.
“They’re logistical tasks that they carry out,” she said.
Sheinbaum subsequently said that Mexican security officials boarded the U.S. military plane to travel to the United States to undertake training. She conceded that it would have been better for them to travel to the United States on a Mexican military plane.
“But it was authorized [by the Ministry of Defense] and it was authorized some time ago,” Sheinbaum said.
With reports from The New York Times, DW, El Financiero, EFE and El Economista
Source: Mexico News Daily
