Club Pilotos de Mexico Chief Pilot Jim Swickard displays is Cessna Turbo 206 and talks to pilots about flying to Mexico. It’s safer than many think, he said.
With highly publicized drug trafficking between the United States and Mexico and drug wars in parts of the latter country, many pilots worry about making a trip south of the border. Club Pilotos de Mexico Chief Pilot Jim Swickard is hoping to change that image and encourage more pilots to fly to Mexico.
“It’s amazing how many stories are out there that aren’t true,” he said.
Swickard is providing pilots at AOPA Aviation Summit with a step-by-step guide of the flight planning and regulatory requirements to fly into Mexico, and inviting them to a fly-in at Alamos Airport (MM45) in Alamos, Mexico. The Club Pilotos Fall Reunion (open to non-club members) runs Oct. 17-21, and offers time for rest and relaxation along with flying seminars and a flight over Copper Canyon. Fly-ins are organized three times a year.
Anyone who lands at the airport becomes a member of the club, which now has more than 500 members from five countries. Those who fly in to the airport often stay at Swickard’s nearby resort and spa, Hacienda de los Santos.
