### UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION RENTON, WASHINGTON 98057-3356

In the matter ofthe petition of 

### Exemption No. 

### 11765

Snaky CreekEnterprises, LLC, dba Spectrum Aeromed Regulatory Docket No. 

### FAA-2014-0881

for an exemption from §§ 25.562 and 25.785(b) ofTitle 14, Code ofFederal Regulations



### GRANT OF EXEMPTION
By letterposted on the Department ofTransportation's Federal DocketManagement System on October 24, 2014, Mr. Justin Mahler, Director ofEngineering, Spectrum Aeromed, 1815 23rd Avenue North, Fargo, NorthDakota, 58102,petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for an exemption from the requirements of§§ 25.562 and 25.785(b) ofTitle 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) to the extent necessary to permit certification ofmedical systems for transporting persons whose medical condition dictates such accommodations. The exemption is for installing the Spectrum Aeromed modular and dedicated medical systems into Boeing Model 777-300ER airplanes.


### The petitioner requests relieffrom the following regulation(s): Section 25.562 specifies dynamic test conditions for qualification ofoccupant injury criteria, as well as structural retention criteria. 

### Section 25.785(b) requires that each seat, berth, safetybelt, harness, and adjacent part of the airplane at each station, designated as occupiable during taxi, takeoff , and landing (TT&L), must be designed so that a person making proper use ofthose facilities will not suffer serious injury in an emergency landing as a result ofinertia forces specified in §§ 25.561 and 25.562. Stretcher carriers are considered "berths" as far as compliance withthis section is concerned

.

### The petitioner supports its request with the following information: This section quotes the relevant information from the petitioner's request. The complete petition is available at the Department ofTransportation's Federal Docket Management System, on the Internet at http://regulations.gov, in DocketNo. FAA-2014-0881. Spectrum Aeromed is requesting an exemption from the dynamic requirements of § 25.562 as required for berths per§ 25.785(b). Spectrum Aeromed owns several supplemental type certificates that allow the installation ofmedical systems (including litters or berths) on various aircraft certified under parts 23, 25, 27, and 29. The dynamic criteria in parts 23, 27, and 29 specifically exclude litters butthe dynamic criteriainpart 25 does not specifically exclude litters. Spectrum Aeromed states that the estimated cost ofdemonstrating compliance ofmedical system installations with dynamic test requirements is quite high considering the limited number ofunits for which the cost could be amortized. Since none have been shown to comply with the dynamic test criteria, medical systems cannot currently be used on airplanes whose type certificate basis includes the dynamic requirements. In this case, a person who needs to travel for essential medical care can eithercharter an airplane at 5 to 10 times the cost ofa commercial ticket, or ifthe cost is prohibitive, fail to receive the needed treatment (the consequences ofwhich may be fatal). Another alternative would be flying on an aircraft whose certification basis does not require dynamic testing. This would offer no increase in safety and may not be available. Spectrum Aeromed notes that the FAA has granted similar exemptions for litter installations on other Boeing Model 777, Airbus Model A330, Airbus Model A340, CessnaModel 750, Gulfstream Model G-V, and CessnaModel 560XL airplanes.

• Spectrum Aeromed states that granting this petition would be in the public interest for the following reasons: 1. The exemption would relieve an economic burden on a segment ofthe traveling public already dealing with adversity.
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. The level ofsafety that would be provided is an acceptable level ofsafety, given the limited usage and exposure ofthe medical system. 3. Compliance with the dynamic test requirements would be difficult at best, and very expensive, while returning a marginal safety benefit. In addition, § 25.562 is written specifically for seats and would not be easy to apply to a litter. Spectrum Aeromed requested that the publication ofthis petition for public comment be waived because this subject has been previously discussed in the public forum

.

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### Federal Register Publication The FAA has determined that good cause exists for waiving the requirement for 

### FederalRegister publication for public commentbecause the exemption, ifgranted, would not set a precedent; and any delay in acting on this petition would be detrimental to Spectrum Aeromed, as well as persons with critical medical conditions.



### The FAA's analysis Due to humanitarian considerations, the FAA considers the transportation ofpersons needing medical attention by air to be essential and in the public interest. In many instances, those persons canbe transported only on stretchers. Spectrum Aeromed has requested relieffrom§ 25.785(b), which currently contains the requirement for berths to provide adequate protection under the inertia loads of§§ 25.561 and 25.562. This requirement was contained in§ 25.785(a) priorto Amendment 25-72. The FAA agrees that the requirement to consider the inertia loads of§ 25.562 for otherthan seats is not altogether obvious. Because § 25.562 refers to "seats," it would be easy to overlook the applicability ofthat section to litters orberths through its incorporation by reference in§ 25.785. In addition, other 14 CFRparts do not treat litters or berths in the same manner as part 25, and this could also lead to confusion. In any event, safe occupancy oflitters or berths during taxi, takeoff, and landing (TT&L) is not considered feasible under the crash conditions described in § 25.562. The FAA agrees that demonstrating compliance with the requirements of§ 25.562 for a litter or berth would be very difficult and that applicability, in this case, ofthe existing pass/fail criteria is questionable. The FAA has also considered the cost implications and overall benefits resulting from the use ofstretcher carriers. One possible alternative, inthe absence ofthe reliefSpectrum Aeromed requested, would be to seek an airplane that is not required to comply withthe dynamic-test requirements. That alternative, ifavailable, would not offer any safety benefit because the stretcher carrier installation would still not be required to meetthe dynamic-test criteria. Should that alternative notbe available, a person would be forced to forego expedient air transport altogether, with potentially fatal consequences. Any safety benefitfrom requiring a stretcher carrier installation to meetthe dynamic-test requirements would certainly be moot ifthe necessary medical attention were unavailable due to prohibitive costs. The need for stretcher carriers in transport-category airplanes is very infrequent. The accident exposure ofpersons occupying stretchers is, therefore, considerably less than that for airline passengers in general. Because only those persons whose medical condition dictates travel on a stretcher can occupy the stretcher carrier during TT&L, granting the requested reliefwould not set a precedent for the traveling public in general.

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### The FAA's decision In consideration ofthe foregoing, I find that a grant ofexemption is in the public interest and will not significantly affect the overall level ofsafety provided by the regulations. Therefore, pursuantto the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. 40113 and 44701 delegated to me by the Administrator, I grant Snaky CreekEnterprises LLC, dba Spectrum Aeromed, an exemption from the requirements of 14 CFR 25.562 and 25

.785(b). The exemption is granted to the extent necessary to allow the installation ofmedical stretcher carriers on Boeing Model 777-300ER airplanes, provided that occupancy during TT&L is limited to non-ambulatory persons. The following operating limitation mustbe added to the limitations section ofthe airplane flight manual supplement and stated on a conspicuously locatedplacard: Occupancy is limited to non-ambulatory persons.

Issued in Renton, Washington, on 

### j

## UN 041015



# ~~ Michael Kaszycki Acting Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate Aircraft Certification Service

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