U.S. Airspace Alerts Over Latin America Explained

Mexico City, Mexico — The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued several notices on Friday alerting to a “potentially hazardous situation” in five airspaces over the Pacific, from Mexico to Ecuador, including Panama and Colombia, “due to military activities.” The Mexican Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications, and Transport (SICT) clarified the U.S. notice in a statement, affirming that it had a “preventive character” and that “there are no operational implications or restrictions for Mexico, nor for Mexican airlines or operators.”

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum herself referred to the SICT statement and, when asked what type of military maneuvers the United States might be carrying out, simply said, “Nothing, there is nothing…, in national territory, nothing.” There is also no record of commercial flight cancellations. However, speculation was not lacking, and even Mexico’s Security Cabinet came out to explain the presence of a U.S. military transport aircraft in Toluca.

What Are NOTAMs?

A Notice To Airmen (NOTAM) is a bulletin issued by the U.S. aviation authority. It follows a standardized format so any pilot can read it. “It is the equivalent of what the European Union Aviation Safety Agency calls a Conflict Zone Information Bulletin,” explains Francisco Cruz of the Technical Department of the Spanish pilots’ union SEPLA. In this case, warnings were issued about five zones where danger is warned due to “GPS interference” and “unspecified military activities,” details Cruz.

“The measures of operators in these cases,” he explains, “consist of establishing ‘contingency plans, such as loading more fuel in case route changes are needed, or planning alternative aerodromes in the area.’ But that does not indicate there will be a U.S. attack. ‘For example, in the case of Venezuela, what they did was publish a flight ban,'” withdrawn after the attack, which initially affected only U.S. airlines but was later replicated, for example, also by the European agency.

Global aviation “is very coordinated,” explains Cruz. And he recalls that, after the case of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 mistakenly shot down by a Russian missile, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) published an air operations manual on war zones that establishes “security protocols to prevent such an accident from happening again.”

Do They Always Refer to a Conflict Zone?

“NOTAMs are very common,” explains Manuel Zarza, a former Spanish fighter pilot and current flight instructor. In fact, there are currently a total of 23 temporary notices of this type on the FAA website. And they do not necessarily have to be related to a conflict.

Zarza gives the example of when there are scheduled military maneuvers, an important event, such as a political summit, or even more prosaic reasons. “For the April Fair, a flight exclusion zone is created every year within what is Seville,” he recalls, referring to the most massive festival in the Andalusian capital. Therefore, issuing such a notice is not, in itself, anything extraordinary.

What is not so common, he adds, is that they are issued for “military activity,” since military maneuvers in air traffic zones are not so numerous. And less so in airspaces that escape the jurisdiction of the issuing body. “Unless it is a notice agreed upon with local authorities, a NOTAM like this only works as a warning for pilots, airlines, and, in general, the citizens of that country,” in this case the United States, he explains.

An aviation authority of a country can issue flight bans, of course. “It is still the Government of that country,” clarifies Zarza. But doing so over another country’s airspace would be “violating its sovereignty.” And, of course, carrying out military actions without the pertinent “overflight permits” from local authorities would also be. In the worst case, “it can generate a serious conflict between the two countries,” he adds.

Is a U.S. Action in the Area Foreseeable?

However, the warning about possible GPS interference and the fact that the affected air zones include maritime areas could indicate that attacks similar to those carried out against narco-boats in the Caribbean are being prepared, opines Zarza. And he recalls that the satellite GPS system is in the hands of the United States and that it could, simply, turn it off in some areas to hinder the navigation of those vessels.

“It is a classic Trump policy warning,” says Arturo López Zapico, professor of Contemporary History at the Autonomous University of Madrid. “A show of force,” he summarizes. “He wants to remind, first, who has control,” he explains, alluding to the line of regional hegemony marked by the new U.S. national security strategy and its new “interventionism, openly, without any kind of cynicism.” And, on the other hand, “play with uncertainty.” And, he recalls, “the Trump Administration has to, facing the midterm elections, count on the fact that a part of the voters leaned toward the Republican precisely because they did not agree with so much interventionism outside the United States.”