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**Mente LL C**  **’s Petition for an Exemption to 14 th**  **CFR Part 91 ,**  **SFAR 87 Prohibition**  **Against Certain**  **Flights Within the Territory and Airspace of Ethiopia** Mente LL C is requesting an exemption to S pecial F ederal Aviation R egulation (SFAR) 87. This SFAR prohibits flights by FAA registered civil aircraft and /or FAA licensed pilots in Ethiopian airspace North of 12 Degrees North Latitude. Mente LLC is anticipating flight s to certain Ethiopian airports within the prohibited airspace. Mente LL C is requesting an exemption to SFAR 87 to allow those flights to be complete d

. SFAR 87 was promulgated in 2000 in response to the August 29, 1999 crash of a U.S. registered L earjet 35 that was sh ot down by the Ethiopian Air Force while on a flight from Luxor, Egy pt to Nairobi, Kenya . The non - commercial flight was proceeding along published High Altitude Airway s and was operating on an IC AO IFR flight plan. Further info is availab le in the N TSB Acc ident Report , Id entification Number IAD99WA062. See Exhibit 1 attached

. At the time of the crash, there was an Ethiopian restriction prohibiting flights across the Ethiopian/Eritrean border . T he Learjet crew was aware of this restriction and planned their route to avoid crossing the Ethiopian/Eritrean border. The Learjet wreckage, however, was fo und in a location that suggests that the L earjet’s actual route had not followed the flight plan route and had, in fact, crossed the Ethiopian/Eritrean border. The reasons for the apparent change in route or the shoot down are not explained in the NTSB report. The purpose of Mente LLC’s anticipated flights is philanthropic. The anticipated passengers are involved in extensive work within Ethiopia, conducting field trials of vaccines and new agricultural products and farming methods . Granting th is exemption to SFAR 87 and allowing the anticipated flight s to proceed will facilitate the development of new vaccines, hy brid seeds, and other agricultural products, many of which are being developed b y U.S. manufacturers and pharma ceutical companies. These new products also have the potential to provide a measurable benefit to tens of thousands of Ethiopian citizens. Mente LL C respectfully

suggests that the reason for the promulgation of SFAR 87 no longer exits and so infers that flights with in the airspace currentl y prohibited b y SFAR 87 can be conducted safel y. In 2000, the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments signed a Peace Agreement that ended their border war and the condi tions that likely led to the shoot down of the Learjet the previous year. In fact, when Mente LLC contacted the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to explore options for flying our passengers into the airspace prohibite d by SFAR 87, Embass y personnel in dicated that they are currently

working through the Department of State to request removal of SFAR 87 from 14 th C ode of F ederal R egulations (CFR) Part 91. Neither the Ethiopian nor the Eritrean governments have any prohibitions against cross border flights. A variety of Non

- U.S. Commercial Air Carriers make daily flights along airway s that cross the airspace defined in SFAR 87. Since the shoot down of the L earjet 35 in 1999, there have been no subsequent hostile actions towards civil aircraft . U.S. citizens working at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia conduct routine air travel , using Non

- U.S. registered aircraft, to Axum , Ethiopia located within the territory prohibited b y SFAR 87

. InAugust 2013, a U.S. Congressional Delegation (CODEL) also traveled to Axum. Their flight was not restricted b y SFAR 87 as they

were traveling on U.S. military aircraft. (The SFAR only applies to U.S. civil aircraft.) The CODEL travel was completed without incident. Our own company employees have2

also made flights into the SFAR 87 prohibited territory using Non

- U.S. registered aircraft. The State Department allows travel by its employees into the territory prohibited by the SFAR with the exception of certain areas discussed on the Department of State International Travel website. See Exhibit 2 attached

. Finally , Mente LLC suggests that, since our proposed flights will operate with valid flight plans and with Ethiopian A i rspace and L anding P ermits, and especially since our proposed flights into the SFAR 87 prohibited airspace will originate and terminate wholly within Ethiopian airspace (and not crossing any borders,) the proposed flights can be accomplished safely and without fear of provoking the conditions that led to the promulgation of SFAR 87. Mente LL C further suggests that granting this request for an exemption to SFAR 87 would not adversel y affect safety. Since SFAR 87 only

applies to operations within certain Ethi opian airspace, Mente LL C is obviously requesting that the exemption allow Mente LLC to exercise the privileges of the exemption outside the United States. Prior to any

flight outside North America, Mente LLC conducts extensive P re - T rip Ri s k A ssessments, including comprehensive reviews of potential political tension and strife that could adversel y affect our flight operations and passenger & crew safety. A s part of that P re - T rip Risk A ssessment process, Mente LLC would readil y agree, as a condition of a waiver to SFAR 87 , that prior to any flight within the SFAR 87 prohibited airspace , Mente LLC would contact the Air Attaché and/or the Air L iaison Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa to discuss the current political situation in the territory define d in SFAR 87 and determine if conditions continue to support safe flight operations within the SFAR 87 prohibited airspace

. Other factors that mitigate risk and ensure that Mente LLC operations within the SFAR 87 prohibited airspace wouldn’t adversel y affe ct safe ty include: 1. All Mente LLC flight crews are highl y experienced in International Operations. They attend simulator training bi

- annually and International Procedures training annually . They have made numerous prior trips to Ethiopia and have been operating extensively in Africa for the last 10 ye ars. In November 2013, Mente LL C safel y completed flights to several Ethiopian airports, including Bahir Dar airport located just south of the SFAR 87 prohibited airspace. 2. Both Mente LLC turbo

- jet aircraft are e quipped with extensive navigation and safety equipment including:

 Triple Flight Management Systems (FMS)  Dual GPS /WAAS Sensors  Datalink (ACARS)  Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning S ys tem (EGPWS)  Traffic Collision Avoidance Sy stem (TCAS)  Heads Up Display

(HUD )  Enhanced Vision S ys tem (EVS)3

**Summary for the Federal Register** Mente LL C is requesting an exemption to SFAR 87: Prohibition Against Certain Flights Within the Territory

and Airspace of Ethiopia. Mente LL C is requesting this exemption to allow anticipated flight s within the prohibited airspace in support of philanthropic work b y a U.S.A based charitable foundation. The conduct of this proposed flight will not present a safety

- related or other risk to the citizens of Ethiopia or the United States.4

**Exhibit 1**  **to Mente LL C**  **’s Petition for an Exemption to 14 th**  **CFR Part 91 SFAR 87**

NTSB Identification: **IAD99WA062**

. The docket is stored in the Docket Management Sy stem (DMS). Please contact Records Management Division Accident occurred Sunday , August 29, 1999 in ADWA, Ethiopia

Aircraft: Learjet 35A, registration: N350JF

Injuries: 2 Fatal. This is preliminary

information, subject to change, and may contain errors. The foreign authority was the source of this information. On August 29, 1999, following a 1330 coordinated universal time (UTC) position report, Asmera, Eritrea, air traffic control (ATC) reported loss of contact with a Cor porate Jets, Inc. Learjet 35A, registration N350JF. The airplane was later found crashed near Adwa, Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Defense Force reported a shoot

- down of an aircraft in the vicinity . The operator was based in Scottsdale, Arizona, and the airplane was owned b y Wilmington Trust Company of Delaware. The 2

- person flight crew was provided by ExecuJet, of Lanseria, South Africa. Both pilots were fatall y injured and the airplane was destroyed. There were no passengers. An IFR flight plan was filed under i nternational civil aviation organization (I CAO) regulations from Luxor, Egy

pt, to Nairobi, Kenya. The final leg was to be from Nairobi to ExecuJet's maintenance facility at Lanseria. Eritrean ATC reported a loss of contact with the flight after it report ed over Asmera, at FL 450, at 1330 UTC, estimating Assab, at 1406, then Parim, at 1414, en route to Djibouti. The provider of the flight crews , which was also the destination maintenance facility in South Africa, stated that Ethiopia had posted a warning that flights directly from Eritrea over Ethiopia were prohibited. The flight plan through Djibouti, avoided an Eritrean/Ethiopian border crossing. Ethiopia claimed that it shot

- down an aircraft near Adwa, Ethiopia, (approximately 100 miles south of Asmera, Eritrea), on August 29, and later evidence found that the missing Learjet 35A was the shot

- down aircraft and both pilots' bodies were recovered at the crash site. I CAO, Montreal authorities state that an initial flight plan was on file from Luxor to Nairob i, via Asmera, then directl y over Addis

- Ababa, Ethiopia, on Upper Golf 650 airway , but because of the border

- crossing prohibition a second flight plan was filed via Djibouti, as stated in the en route position report. The flight crew was comprised of two pilots employed b y ExecuJet. The pilot, a British citizen, held a U.S. Airline Transport Pilot rating, as well as United Kingdom and South African ATP licenses. His total flight time was 7,690 hours, including 4,007 hours in jet aircraft. The first officer, a Swedish citizen, also held a U.S. ATP rating. His total flight time was 8,615 hours, including about 4,500 hours in executive jets. The airplane was manufactured by L earjet in 1979, as serial no. 02199. The airframe accumulated over 5,434 flight hours and 3,657 landings. Thomas R. Conroy , NTSB, AS

- 20, is the U.S. Accredited Representative, (202) 314

- 6314/ fax

- 6329. Inquiries to Eritrean and Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authorities have been made by the U.S.5

Accredited Representative via the U.S. Departm ent of State, regarding the collection of evidence, including air traffic control tapes, and initiation of an investigation into the airplane crash. The Eritrean Ministry

of Transport and Communications states that they have impounded relevant ATC material s. Inquiries have also been made to Eritrean authorities for further information b y the ATC division, I CAO, Montreal. In accordance with I CAO, Annex 13, for the purposes of formation of an investigation, Ethiopia is the Country of Occurrence.6

**Exhibit 2 to Mente LL C**  **’s Petition for an Exemption to 14 th**  **CFR Part 91 SFAR 87** Excerpted from the U.S. Department of State website : http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1113.html#safety **Ethiopia/Eritrea Border (Northern Ethiopia):** Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a peace agreement in December 2000 that ended their border war. However, the border remains an active issue of contention between the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea. The border area is a militarized zone where the possibil ity of armed conflict between Ethiopian and Eritrean forces continues. U.S. government personnel are restricted from travel north of the Shire (Inda Silassie)
- Axum - Adigrat road in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Personnel are further restricted from travel north of the road from Dessie through Semera to the Galafi border crossing with Djibouti, including the Danakil Depression and the Erta Ale volcano. In January 2012, a group of foreign tourists were attacked near the Erta Ale volcano in the Afar region nea r the Eritrean border, approximately 100 miles southeast of Adigrat in the Danakil Depression. The attack resulted in five deaths, three wounded, and four people kidnapped. The victims were European and Ethiopian citizens. The two Europeans who were kidnap ped were subsequently released. On February 15, 2012, Ethiopia, which blamed Eritrea for the attack, retaliated by striking military camps in Eritrea where the attackers were allegedly trained. This episode illustrates the continuing volatility of the bord er area. **Please see this restricted area indicated in red on the map below.**  **Somali Region (Eastern Ethiopia):** Travel to Ethiopia's Somali regional state is restricted for U.S. government employees, although essential travel to the region is permitted on a case - by
- case basis. Since the mid
- 1990's, members of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) have conducted attacks on civilian targets in parts of the Somali regional state, particularly in the Ogaden zones. Expatriates have been killed in these atta cks. In 2010, the Government of Ethiopia initiated peace talks with the ONLF, which are ongoing. Despite these talks, there have been isolated incidents of violence continues. In May 2011, gunmen affiliated with the ONLF attacked a vehicle belonging to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), killing the vehicle’s driver, wounding one other, and kidnapping two other WFP employees. The kidnapped employees were later released. **Please see this restricted area indicated in blue on the map below.** 
**Gambella R egion (Western Ethiopia):**  Sporadic inter
- ethnic clashes are a concern throughout the Gambella region of western Ethiopia. While the security situation in the town of Gambella is generally calm, it remains unpredictable throughout the rest of the region. In tensified conflict between Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan has increased refugee flows into Western Ethiopia. Travel to the border areas in the Beneshangul (Asosa) region is restricted to major towns. **Please see this restricted area indicated in gree**  **n on the map below.**7

U.S. government personnel are restricted from travel in the areas of Ethiopia indicated on the map above. **Blue** indicates the Somali region; **Red** indicates the Ethiopian/Eritrean border area; and **Green** indicates the Gambella region.