### UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPO RT AT IO N FEDERAL AVIAT IO N A DMI N I STRATION RENTON, WASHINGTON 98057-3356

In the matte r of the pet iti on of Exempt ion No. 14929

L-3 Co mmuni cation s Integrated Systems, L.P. Regulatory Docket No
. F AA- 2015-5056
fo r a n exe m pti on from §§ 25.562 and 25.7 8 5(b) o fT i t le 1 4 , Code o f F e d e ral Reg ul at i ons

GRANT OF EXEM PTION By lette r d ated August 5, 20 1 5, Mr. P h i ll ip T. C rawford , P
. E
. , ODA Admini s tr ato r , L

- 3 Co mm u n ications In teg rated Sys t e m s, L.P. (L-3 Co m mu ni catio n s). 760 I Mae h r R oa d , P
. O. Box 154580 , Waco , Texa s, 767 1 5-4580 , petitioned t he Fe d e ral Av iation Administration (FAA) for an exe m ption f rom th e requi r ements of§§ 25
. 562 and 25.785(b) ofTi tl e 14 , Code ofFederal R

eg ul a ti ons ( 1 4 Cf R ) t o the exte nt n ecessary t o per m i t ce rti fica tion of a med ical-s tretche r carrier fo r tra n s po rt ing p e r so n s w h ose me di ca l co n d i t io n d ic t a t es s uch acco mm o d a tio n . Th e pro p ose d exe mption i s ap p li cab le t o Bo e in g Mod e l 7 8 7 -8 a irpl a n es . The p et iti o n er reque s t s relief fr o m t h e followin g regulation(s) : Secti on 25
. 562 spec i f i es dy n amic te s t conditio n s fo r qualification of occupant injury cr

i ter ia , as well as struct u ral r etention c r iteria. S ection 25.785(b) requ ires t h at each sea t , be rth , safety be lt , ha rn ess, and adjacent part of th e a irp l ane at each sta ti o n , des ig n ated as occup ia bl e du r ing t ax i
. ta k eo f f, a n d landin g (TT&L) , m u st be d es ig n e d so th at a pe r so n m a kin g pro p e r u sc of th ose fac iliti es w ill n o t s u ffer se ri o u s injury i n an emergency land ing as a r esu l t of inert ia forces spec i f i ed in §§ 25.56 1 and 25
. 562
. St r e tc h er carr iers a re co n s ide red "be rth s" as fa r as com p iiancc with this sect ion i s concerned.T h e p etit io n er s u pport s i ts r· e quc s t w i th th e fo ll ow in g in format io n : T hi s sectio n quo t es th e r e leva nt inf or m a ti o n from th e petition e r 's requ es t , w ith min o r edi t s f o r clari t y. The complete peti tion i s available at the Department ofTra n spo rtation· s l'ederal D ocke t Management System , on th e I n t e rnet at http: //r egu lations.gov, in D ocket No
. FJ\A-20 15

- 50 56. Backg r o und Ti t le 14 CFR part 25 governs t ype desig n certificat i on requirements for tra n spo rt catego ry a irpl anes . Part 25 i s p rim a r il y int e nd e d for co mmerc i a l o r common-carria ge a pplic at io n s . These re g ul a tions are to e nsure that a ir craft m anufac tu rers pro v ide the appropriate desig n features to m ee t the standa rd s necessary to p r otect the tra ve ling United States (US) pub li c. These req u ir eme nts d efi ne the no rm a l public in t e r

est and sa f e t

y leve l and provide r egula tory guide lines to meet them. M ed ical stretc h er in s t alla tion s were not con s idered in th e context of§ 25.562 when the r egu l at ion was d eve lop ed. As a r es ult , cr iteria were es t a bl i shed th a t are n o t d irectl y applica bl e to this type of installation. L

- 3 Co mmunications i s not aware of a sup pl ier that could produce a stretcher tha t meets the requirement s. A review of this i ss ue w i th ve ndors indi cates that th e costs associ at ed with the dynamic testing are quite h igh. F urth er, no a rti c les that h ave been tested have met the cri t e ria
. Wi th thi s informat ion, it was dete rm ined that th e cost of developing a stre t cher system th a t will mee t the c ri teria i s p r o hi biti vely high. The result of the high cost i s that a pe r son seek in g trave l for required medical care h as on ly tluee alternat ives. One is to c harter an aircraft a t a very sig nificantl y increased cos t. A n o th er i s t o s impl y forgo the treat m e nt with poss ib le fatal co n seq uenc es. T he l ast opt ion is to see k trave l o n a n a ircrafl w ith a p r e-Ame n dme n t 25-64 ce rt ifica ti o n basi s. Thi s st r etche r in s tallation will b e used on a n ai rpl ane to be used in private serv ice (e.g., n o t fo r US hire or common ca rr i age) as a VVIP/Gover nm e n t U se/Foreign Head-of-State airp l ane. H i s toricall y, th e FAA has m ade ad ju st m en ts to spec ific re quireme nt s based upon specilic des ig n and ope rational factors. N um e r o u s exe mption s a nd othe r reg ulator y changes have been gran t ed t o meet spcc ilic aircraft des igns and applicatio n s . Examples include Exe mption s 6820 / 6820/\ and 9762. As with other exempt ion s, L-3 Com munication s p roposes to u sc mitigating de s ign requirement s a n d ope r at ion a l limit atio n s to j u s ti fy thi s exempt ion to our existing and future 787-8 a ircraft modified for VV IP / Go ve rnmen t/ H ead-of

- Stat e, not
- for-hire o r common -c arriage service
.
• J u s ti fi ca tion Th e estimated cost of demonstrating compliance of s tre tcher in s tallation s with dynamic t es t req uir e m e nt s i s qui t e hi gh
. S in ce n o n e have b ee n s hown to co mpl y wi th the dynamic t es t c rit e ri a. s tretc hers cannot curr ent ly be u s ed on airp l anes who se type certificat ion basis 2includes the dyna mi c requirements. Th e p ass/ fa il cri t e r i a were designed to increase the leve l of safety fo r p asse n ge rs sea t e d in a n up rig ht po s ition. L-3 Co mmunicat i o n s fee l s th a t ap p li cation of th e ex i s tin g pass/ fail criteri a for dynamic testing to stretcher in stalla tion s i s unreasonable and th a t the in crease i n the leve l of safety does not waJTan t the costs when co mp ared w ith the level of safety affo rd ed by an a ircraft th a t does n ot in c l ud e Am e ndme nt 25 -64 in it s ce rtificati o n basis. 

### Bas is for Exe mption Th e ai rpl ane th a t is th e s ubject o f thi s petiti on is a B oei n g M ode l 787-8 out fitt ed for n o n com me rc i al/no n-comm on -c a rri age. VVI P /Gove rnm cnt use/Head-of

- Stat e service. T h ese ai r c r aft are t ypica ll y in the serv ice of fo reign ! lea d s - of-S t ate fr i end ly to US int e re sts a nd wil l be op e r a t e d und e r 1 4 C FR p a rt 9 1 and pa rt 1 25 reg ul at ion s o r equ iva le nt fo rei g n sta ndard
. For this reason , the pri v il eges of thi s propo sed exem pti o n will be exe rci sed outside the U nit e d S tat es . Th e exe mpti on p ropose d h ere in i s ju st ified b ased upon the following facts:
• Th ese a ircraft a r c intend ed for VVIP /Gov e rnment/Head-of-State u se a nd arc n ot appropriately co nfigure d f o r or int e nd ed for usc fo r hire o r co mm on caiTiage.
• The P e tition er proposes previo u s l y utili z ed and a pprov ed mitigatin g requ irements and conditio n s th at estab l i s h accept a bl e safety leve ls fo r the occ u pa nt s consistent w ith previo u s g rants . 

### Occupant S afety Co ns id e ration s
• S tre t c he r in s t alla ti ons for pa rt 23 , 25, 2 7 , and 29 a ircraft have n o t been s h ow n to meet th e dynamic c rit eri a. Howeve r , they h ave demon s tr a ted a good se rvic e history wi t h n o adverse expe ri ence.
• The u se of th e m e d i ca l s tre t c h e r is limited , a n d o n a ca se- b y -ca se ba s i s . • Occupa n cy fo r takeoff a n d land ing i s lim it ed t o non - ambulatory pe r so ns.
• T h e medical stre t c her w ill co mply with the re qu i rem en t s of 1 4 Cf7R 25
. 561. This includes the we ig ht of the occ up a nt. An occupant we ig h t of 170 p ounds i s being used. 

### Public lnterc s t I. T he l eve l of sa f e ty that wou l d be provided i s an acceptable level or sa fety g iven th e limit ed u sage a nd ex p os ure of th e s tr e t c he r. 2. A person whose sit uation requi r es this type of tr ave l arrangement can be tran s ported on hi s own Hea d-of

- S t ate a irpl ane ins te ad of h av in g t o c h arte r ano th e r ai rp lane. 33. Comp li ance' i th 14 CF R 25 .562 is difficult si n ce that section app l ies to seats a n d not str e tcher s . Th e require m e nt s for s tre tch er t es ting d o not e xi s t . Testing i s ex p e n s ive to conduct and would yield m a rg in a l safe t y benefit. 4. Thi s a ir craft i s used by a gove rnm en t fri e ndl y to th e US Gove rnm en t to transport th e ir H ead

- of- S tat e, D iplomatic P e r so ns , ot h er YIPs , and relat ed s taff. US publ ic int e res t is advanced by de ve lop in g and maint ai nin g positive influ ence w ith th e countr y rep rese n ted a nd gove m e d by the a ir craft's occupants ; ensu r ing that thi s a irplane performs its mi ss i o n as orig inally int e nded and contracted b y the ope r a tor , achieves that goa l. 5
. T he VV TP / H ead-of-State co nfi gured interior of th e sty l e a nd qualit y int e nd ed fo r thi s s upplem e nt a l t y pe cert ifica t e i s not su itab le for chart er ope r a tion s o r commo ncatTi age operations. Th e aircraft w ill b e restricted from u sc in fo r-hire or common-carriage ope r at io n s . 6. The popu la tion of people w h o us e this a ircraft i s very s m a ll and r es tricted to personnel selected by the ope rator. Members o f th e flying public in the US and wo r ldwide do n o t ha ve access to thi s a ircraft a nd therefore , their public int erest i s not n eg ativel y impacted. 7. The use of US-des igned and manufactured ai rcraft and in terio r s s uch as this one d eve l ops and m a in ta in s th e wo rld w id e positiv e image and influ e n ce c urrentl y enjoyed by th e US ae r ospace indu s tr y. Wit h out s uppo rti n g cost-benefit dat a d e m o nstrating a positive sa fety impact , there ca n be n o p ublic benefit to applying this require m e n t; espec i a ll y to a fo reign a ircra ft
. Miti ga tion
• Occupancy of the s tretcher during TT& L will be limit ed to non - a m bulatory pe rso n s.
• A n operat i ng limitation will be a d ded to th e limit a ti o n s section of the a irp lane flight manual sup pl eme nt a nd s tat ed o n a conspicuous l y located placard: 

### Occupancy i s limit ed to non-ambu/at01y persons. A ppli cat io n o f th e Exe mp t io n T hi s exe mpti o n i s intended fo r app lic a ti on to ex i s tin g and future Boeing 787-8 int e ri o r programs by L-3 Communications. 

### In acco rd a n ce w ith 1 4 C FR 11. 8 1( h ), we re qu es t th e p r iv il ege of thi s exe mpt io n o ut s id e of the U ni ted S ta t es s in ce the ope r a tors are located in fo reign countries.



### 4

### Fed e ra l Re g i s t e r publica t ion 

### The FAA ha s determ in ed th at good cause exis ts for waiving the requ i reme n t fo r Federa l Register p ublica ti on for pub l i c comm e n t becau se th e r equest is id e ntica l in a ll mate rial respects to previou s ly granted exempt ions; th e exemp tion, if granted , wo uld not se t a preced en t ; and any delay in acting on this petition wou ld be detrimen t al to L-3 Communicatio n s. The FAA 's analy s i s 

### Du e to humani t a r ian cons iderations, the FAA considers the transportation of persons needing m

edica l attention by ai r to be esse ntial and in the public interest. In many instanc es, those per so n s can be tra nsported o nl y o n st re t c hers. L-3 Comm unica tions has requested re li ef fi·om 

### §§ 25.562 and 25.785(b), which conta in s the requirement for berths to provide adequate occ upant protec tion und e r the inertia lo ads of §§ 

### 25 .561 and 25.562
. The FAA agree s th at demon strating compliance with the requi r e me nts of§ 25.562 for a li tt e r (s tre tc her ) or ber th would be very difficult and that applicability of the existing pa ss/fa i l criteria is questio nab l e in that case . T h e FAA has also cons id e red the cost implication s and overa ll be nef it s res ultin g from th e p r o pose d use of s tre tch ers. One pos si bl e a lte rnat i ve, in th e absenc e o f th e r e li ef L- 3 Com muni cat io n s requested , would be to see k an ai r p lane that is not r equ ir ed to comp ly w ith th e dynam ic-test requirements. That a lternative, if available, wou ld not offer any sa f e ty benefit because the s tretche r carrie r in s tall at ion would s till not be requ i red to meet the d ynamic -t est c rit e ri a . Should th at a lte rn at ive not be availab le, a pe r so n wo uld be forced to f orego ex p e di e n t a i r tra n s po rt a ltogethe r , w ith poten ti ally fata l cons e qu e nce s. A ny safe ty benefit from requiring a stretc her ca rri er installati o n to meet th e dynam ic-test requirement s would certain ly be moo t if the necessa r y medical allention were unavailable due to prohibitive cos t s. I n any eve nt, safe occu pancy of li tters or berth s dur i ng taxi , takeoff, a nd land in g (TT &L) i s not con s idered feasib le und e r th e c r as h cond it io n s describ ed in 

### § 25.56 2. The need for pa ssenger carriage on a stretcher in transport-category ai rplane s is very infrequent. Th e acci d e n t expos ur e of pe r so ns occupying s tretch e r s is , therefore , cons iderab ly le ss than that for a irline pa sse ng e rs in ge n era l. Becau se on ly thos e pe rso n s who se medical conditio n dictat es tr ave l o n a stre t c he r can occ up y the s tretc her carri e r during TT&L, g r a nti ng th e r e quested r elief wou ld no t set a precedent for the tr aveling public in gene r al. T h e FAA's d ec i s ion 

### I n consideration or th e foregoing, I find that a grant of exempt ion is in the pub l ic interest and w ill not s ignificantl y affect the overa ll leve l of s afety provid e d by the regulations. The refore, purs uant to the author ity contained in 49 U.S.C. 40113 and 44701 delegated to me by the Adm ini strator , I grant L- 3 Co mmunication s an exempt io n fro m th e re quirement s of 14 CFR 25.562 a nd 25
. 785(b). The exempt io n is g rant ed to the exten t nec essa ry to a ll ow th e in s tallation of medical stretcher caniers on Boeing Model 787

- 8 airplanes
. prov ided that 5

### occ upanc y dur i ng TT&L is limite d to no n-ambu lator y pers o ns . Th e f o llowin g op era ting limit at io n mu s t be add e d to th e limita tio n s sec ti o n of th e airpl ane fli g ht ma nu a l s uppl e me nt and st at ed on a co n s picuo u s l y loca t e d pl ac ard: Occ upan cy is limited to no n-amb ul ator y pe rso ns .
I ss ue d in R e nton , Wa s hin g ton , o n 

## F EB 2 3 2016

Di o nn e P a le rm o Ac ti ng M a nage r, T ran sp o rt Airp l ane Dir e cto r ate Ai r c ra ft Ce rt i f i ca tio n S ervice

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