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Mente LLC’s Petition for an Exemption to 14th CFR Part 91, SFAR 87 Prohibition 

Against Certain Flights Within the Territory and Airspace of Ethiopia

Mente LLC is requesting an exemption to Special Federal Aviation Regulation (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 flights to certain 

Ethiopian airports within the prohibited airspace. Mente LLC is requesting an exemption to 

SFAR 87 to allow those flights to be completed.

SFAR 87 was promulgated in 2000 in response to the August 29, 1999 crash of a U.S. registered 

Learjet 35 that was shot down by the Ethiopian Air Force while on a flight from Luxor, Egypt to 

Nairobi, Kenya. The non-commercial flight was proceeding along published High Altitude 

Airways and was operating on an ICAO IFR flight plan. Further info is available in the NTSB 

Accident Report, Identification Number IAD99WA062. See Exhibit 1 attached. 

At the time of the crash, there was an Ethiopian restriction prohibiting flights across the 

Ethiopian/Eritrean border. The Learjet crew was aware of this restriction and planned their route 

to avoid crossing the Ethiopian/Eritrean border. The Learjet wreckage, however, was found in a 

location that suggests that the Learjet’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 this exemption to SFAR 87 and allowing 

the anticipated flights to proceed will facilitate the development of new vaccines, hybrid seeds, 

and other agricultural products, many of which are being developed by U.S. manufacturers and 

pharmaceutical companies. These new products also have the potential to provide a measurable

benefit to tens of thousands of Ethiopian citizens.

Mente LLC respectfully suggests that the reason for the promulgation of SFAR 87 no longer 

exits and so infers that flights within the airspace currently prohibited by SFAR 87 can be 

conducted safely. In 2000, the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments signed a Peace Agreement 

that ended their border war and the conditions 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 prohibited by SFAR 87, Embassy 

personnel indicated that they are currently working through the Department of State to request 

removal of SFAR 87 from 14th Code of Federal Regulations (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 airways that cross the 

airspace defined in SFAR 87. Since the shoot down of the Learjet 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 by SFAR 87. In August 2013, a U.S. 

Congressional Delegation (CODEL) also traveled to Axum. Their flight was not restricted by 

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 have 
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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 Airspace and Landing Permits, 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 LLC further 

suggests that granting this request for an exemption to SFAR 87 would not adversely affect 

safety.

Since SFAR 87 only applies to operations within certain Ethiopian airspace, Mente LLC 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 Pre-Trip Risk 

Assessments, including comprehensive reviews of potential political tension and strife that could 

adversely affect our flight operations and passenger & crew safety. As part of that Pre-Trip Risk 

Assessment process, Mente LLC would readily 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 Liaison Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa to discuss the 

current political situation in the territory defined 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 adversely affect safety include:

1. All Mente LLC flight crews are highly 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 years. In November 2013, Mente LLC safely 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 equipped with extensive navigation and safety 

equipment including:

 Triple Flight Management Systems (FMS)

 Dual GPS/WAAS Sensors

 Datalink (ACARS)

 Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS)

 Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS)

 Heads Up Display (HUD)

 Enhanced Vision System (EVS)
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Summary for the Federal Register

Mente LLC is requesting an exemption to SFAR 87: Prohibition Against Certain Flights Within 

the Territory and Airspace of Ethiopia.

Mente LLC is requesting this exemption to allow anticipated flights within the prohibited 

airspace in support of philanthropic work by 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.
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Exhibit 1 to Mente LLC’s Petition for an Exemption to 14th CFR Part 91 SFAR 87

NTSB Identification: IAD99WA062. 

The docket is stored in the Docket Management System (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 Corporate 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 by Wilmington Trust Company of 

Delaware. The 2-person flight crew was provided by ExecuJet, of Lanseria, South Africa. Both 

pilots were fatally injured and the airplane was destroyed. There were no passengers. An IFR 

flight plan was filed under international civil aviation organization (ICAO) regulations from 

Luxor, Egypt, 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 reported 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. ICAO, 

Montreal authorities state that an initial flight plan was on file from Luxor to Nairobi, via 

Asmera, then directly 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 by 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 Learjet 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. 
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Accredited Representative via the U.S. Department 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 materials. Inquiries have also been made to Eritrean authorities for further information by 

the ATC division, ICAO, Montreal. In accordance with ICAO, Annex 13, for the purposes of 

formation of an investigation, Ethiopia is the Country of Occurrence. 
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Exhibit 2 to Mente LLC’s Petition for an Exemption to 14th 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 possibility 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 near 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 kidnapped 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 border 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 attacks. 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 Region (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. Intensified 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 green on the map below.
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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.