cool ex 

J.G. Harrington 

+1 202 776 281 8 

jghorrington@cooley.com 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

Docket Management System 

1200 New Jersey Ave., SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

ORIGINAL 

May 20, 2015 

Re: Application for Amendment to Exemption 11433, Cape Productions, Inc. 

FAA Docket 2015-0223 

Ladies and Gentlemen: 

On January 27, 2015, Cape Productions, Inc. ("Cape"), through its attorneys, submitted 

an application for an exemption under Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 

2012. On April 24, 2015, the FAA issued exemption 11433, allowing Cape to engage in 

commercial operation of a small unmanned aircraft system ("sUAS") to conduct video filming 

and observations. This letter requests amendment to Exemption 11433 to permit filming within 

500 feet of participants in certain limited circumstances, as described below. 

As described in Cape's initial application, the purpose of its exemption request was to 

permit filming of athletic performances on outdoor terrain, including ski slopes and mountain 

trails. This amendment requests authorization to permit filming at distances of less than 500 

feet from non-participants (that is, individuals other than the pilot in command ("PIC"), visual 

observers ("VOs") and UAS trainees). 

At all times, the PIC will have the ability to take manual control of the sUAS to address 

emergencies or other unexpected occurrences during the flight. Cape will operate one sUAS on 

each ski slope or mountain trail, but may operate more than one sUAS at any given mountain 

resort, using a separate PIC for each sUAS operating on each slope or trail. 

Cape proposes to operate under the following additional conditions when it is filming 

athletes on ski slopes and mountain trails: 1 

1. All operations will be in mountain resorts with access limited to paying customers and 

staff. 

2. (a) All individuals entering the resort will provide consents/waivers; or 

(b) If consents/waivers are not obtained from all who enter the resort, then physical 

barriers (such as fencing or natural topographic barriers) will be in place to prevent 

1 These conditions are in addition to the applicable conditions in Exemption 11433. 

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individuals who have not provided consents/waivers from being within 500 feet of 

sUAS operations. 

(c) All consents or waivers may be obtained in electronic form. 

3. Individuals whose performances will be filmed will provide a separate waiver for the 

filming. 

4. The sUAS will operate in a limited area on a pre-programmed flight plan for routine 

operations involving recording athletic performances. 

5. For purposes of sUAS training, flight testing, or obtaining non-athlete footage, the sUAS 

may be operated in manual (non-pre-programmed) mode, but in such cases the sUAS 

always will be operated at least 500 feet from all non-participants. 

6. The operator will post sign age concerning the use of sUAS in locations where filming is 

taking place, specifically at the top of the trails where filming occurs. 

7. The operator will maintain a security plan, which will include the following: 

• Identification of the control point from which the PIC conducts operations; 

• Processes to stop operations and then land or have the sUAS return to home if 

unauthorized persons, vehicles, or aircraft mistakenly enter the area of operation; 

• Visual arm signals or auditory signals to be used during operations (e.g., to tell the 

PIC that unauthorized persons, vehicles, or aircraft have mistakenly entered the area 

of operations); and 

• Utilization of radio frequencies consistent with FCC requirements. 

8. In the event that (i) unauthorized persons, vehicles, or aircraft mistakenly enter the area 

of operations; (ii) contact with the sUAS is lost; or (iii) other conditions require immediate 

termination of operations, a Fail Safe point for landing the sUAS will have been 

established prior to operations. 

9. Prior to operations, a map will be prepared showing takeoff and landing points, the area 

of operations, and the Fail Safe point. 

10. Each day, prior to operations, the PIC will perform a ground inspection of the site for 

hazards to safe conduct of sUAS operations and will conduct a risk assessment 

procedure to ensure that potential operational risks are identified. 

11 . The FSDO for the area where filming will take place will be notified prior to the beginning 

of each ski and mountain trail season. 

These conditions will provide for at least an equivalent level of safety under the current 

regulatory structure because the proposed operations represent a safety enhancement to 

operations that would be conducted with conventional aircraft. As described in the original 

exemption request, the 30Robotics X8+ sUAS is very small and uses battery power, thereby 

eliminating virtually all of the risk associated with using conventional aircraft for this purpose. All 

flights will use pre-programmed routes based on the terrain of the area being filmed. In 

addition, Cape will employ tracking technology to adjust the flight speed to ensure that the sUAS 

will maintain appropriate distance from the athlete being filmed, within pre-programmed limits 

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that will keep the sUAS within the designated area for filming. (For instance, the tracking 

technology will adjust the speed of the sUAS within pre-programmed parameters if the athlete is 

moving faster or slower than the initially programmed speed.) The additional conditions 

proposed herein and the method of operation, including using tracking technology to ensure that 

an appropriate distance is maintained from the athletes, and operation of each sUAS within a 

limited area in the mountain resort, further enhance the safety of operations. 

To the extent necessary, Cape refers the FAA to its original exemption request 

submitted in Docket FAA-2015-0223 for a listing of other regulations for which an exemption is 

being sought; a demonstration of the public interest; and a showing of an equivalent level of 

safety. Based on the foregoing and for all the reasons set forth in Cape's previous filings in 

Docket 2015-0223, which are now incorporated by reference, Cape respectfully requests that 

this amendment be granted.2 

Please contact undersigned counsel if you have any questions. 

cc: James Williams 

Robert Pappas 

Thuy Cooper 

Jake Troutman 

Dean Griffith 

Jason Soli 

Very truly yours, 

!:~ J.G. Harrington anson Counsel for Cape Productions, Inc. 

2 Applicant interprets Section 333 as placing a duty on the Administrator not only to process 

applications for exemptions under Section 333 but, if he determines that the conditions set forth 

herein do not fulfill the statutory requirements for approval, to craft conditions for the safe 

operation of the UAS. 

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