UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION 

RENTON, WASHINGTON 98057-3356 

In the matter of the petition of 

Exemption No. 14929 

L-3 Communications Integrated 

Systems, L.P. 

Regulatory Docket No. F AA-2015-5056 

for an exemption from §§ 25.562 and 

25.785(b) ofTitle 14, Code of Federal 

Regul ations 

GRANT OF EXEM PTION 

By letter dated August 5, 2015, Mr. Phillip T. Crawford, P.E., ODA Administrator, L-3 

Communications Integrated Systems, L.P. (L-3 Communications). 760 I Maehr Road, P.O. Box 

154580, Waco, Texas, 767 15-4580, petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for an 

exemption from the requirements of§§ 25.562 and 25.785(b) ofTitle 14, Code ofFederal 

Regul ations ( 14 CfR) to the extent necessary to permit certification of a medical-stretcher carrier 

for transporting persons whose medical condition dictates such accommodation. The proposed 

exemption is applicable to Boeing Model 787-8 airplanes. 

The petitioner requests relief from the following regulation(s): 

Section 25.562 specifies dynamic test conditions for qualification of occupant injury 

criteria, as well as structural retention criteria. 

Section 25.785(b) requires that each seat, berth, safety belt, 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 usc of those facilities will not 

suffer serious injury in an emergency landing as a result of inertia forces specified in 

§§ 25.561 and 25.562. Stretcher carriers are considered "berths" as fa r as com pi iancc 

with this section is concerned. 
The petitioner supports its r·equcst with the following information: 

This section quotes the relevant information from the petitioner's request, with minor edits for 

clarity. The complete petition is available at the Department ofTransportation·s l'ederal Docket 

Management System, on the Internet at http://regulations.gov, in Docket No. FJ\A-20 15-5056. 

Background 

Title 14 CFR part 25 governs type design certification requirements for transport category 

airpl anes. Part 25 is primarily intended for commercial or common-carriage applications. 

These regulations are to ensure that aircraft manufacturers provide the appropriate design 

features to meet the standards necessary to protect the traveling United States (US) 

publi c. These requirements define the normal public interest and safety level and provide 

regulatory guidelines to meet them. 

Medical stretcher installations were not considered in the context of§ 25.562 when the 

regulation was developed. As a result, criteria were established that are not directly 

applicable to this type of installation. L-3 Communications is not aware of a supplier that 

could produce a stretcher that meets the requirements. A review of this issue with 

vendors indicates that the costs associated with the dynamic testing are quite high. 

Further, no arti cles that have been tested have met the criteria. With this information, it 

was determined that the cost of developing a stretcher system that will meet the criteria is 

prohibitively high. 

The result of the high cost is that a person seeking travel for required medical care has 

only tluee alternatives. One is to charter an aircraft at a very significantly increased cost. 

Another is to simply forgo the treatment with possible fatal consequences. The last 

option is to seek travel on an aircrafl with a pre-Amendment 25-64 certification basis. 

This stretcher installation will be used on an airplane to be used in private service (e.g., 

not for US hire or common carriage) as a VVIP/Government Use/Foreign Head-of-State 

airplane. 

H istoricall y, the FAA has made adjustments to specific requirements based upon specilic 

design and operational factors. N umerous exemptions and other regulatory changes have 

been granted to meet spccilic aircraft designs and applications. Examples include 

Exemptions 6820/6820/\ and 9762. As with other exemptions, L-3 Communications 

proposes to usc mitigating design requirements and operational limitations to j ustify this 

exemption to our existing and future 787-8 aircraft modified for 

VVIP/Government/Head-of-State, not-for-hire or common-carriage service . 

• J usti fica tion 

The estimated cost of demonstrating compliance of stretcher installations with dynamic 

test req uirements is quite high. Since none have been shown to compl y with the dynamic 

test criteri a. stretchers cannot currently be used on airplanes whose type certification basis 

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includes the dynamic requirements. The pass/fa il criteria were designed to increase the 

level of safety for passengers seated in an upright position. L-3 Communications feels 

that appli cation of the existing pass/fail criteria for dynamic testing to stretcher 

installations is unreasonable and that the increase in the level of safety does not waJTant 

the costs when compared with the level of safety afforded by an aircraft that does not 

include Amendment 25-64 in its certification basis. 

Basis for Exemption 

The airplane that is the subject of this petition is a Boeing Model 787-8 outfitted for noncommercial/non-common-carriage. VVIP/Governmcnt use/Head-of-State service. These 

aircraft are typically in the service of foreign !leads-of-State friendly to US interests and 

wil l be operated under 14 CFR part 9 1 and part 125 regul ations o r equivalent foreign 

standard. For this reason, the privileges of this proposed exemption will be exercised 

outside the United States. The exemption proposed herein is justified based upon the 

following facts: 

• These aircraft arc intended for VVIP/Government/Head-of-State use and arc not 

appropriately configured for or intended for usc for hire or common caiTiage. 

• The Petitioner proposes previously utili zed and approved mitigating requirements 

and conditions that establish acceptable safety levels for the occupants consistent 

with previous grants. 

Occupant Safety Considerations 

• Stretcher installations for part 23, 25, 27, and 29 a ircraft have not been shown to 

meet the dynamic criteria. However, they have demonstrated a good service 

history with no adverse experience. 

• The use of the medical stretcher is limited, and on a case-by-case basis. 

• Occupancy for takeoff and landing is limited to non-ambulatory persons. 

• The medical stretcher will comply with the requirements of 14 Cf7R 25.561. This 

includes the weight of the occupant. An occupant weight of 170 pounds is being 

used. 

Public lntercst 

I. The level of safety that would be provided is an acceptable level or safety given 

the limited usage and exposure of the stretcher. 

2. A person whose situation requires this type of travel arrangement can be 

transported on his own Head-of-State airplane instead of having to charter another 

airplane. 

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3. Compliance' ith 14 CFR 25.562 is difficult since that section applies to seats and 

not stretchers. The requirements for stretcher testing do not exist. Testing is 

expensive to conduct and would yield marginal safety benefit. 

4. This aircraft is used by a government friendly to the US Government to transport 

their Head-of-State, Diplomatic Persons, other YIPs, and related staff. US publ ic 

interest is advanced by developing and maintai ning positive influence with the 

country represented and govemed by the aircraft's occupants; ensuring that this 

a irplane performs its mission as originally intended and contracted by the 

operator, achieves that goal. 

5. The VVTP/Head-of-State configured interior of the style a nd quality intended for 

this supplemental type certifica te is not suitable for charter operations or commoncatTiage operations. The aircraft will be restricted from usc in for-hire or 

common-carriage operations. 

6. The population of people who use this aircraft is very small and restricted to 

personnel selected by the operator. Members of the flying public in the US and 

worldwide do not have access to this aircraft and therefore, their public interest is 

not negatively impacted. 

7. The use of US-designed and manufactured aircraft and interiors such as this one 

develops and maintains the worldwide positive image and influence currently 

enjoyed by the US aerospace industry. Without supporti ng cost-benefit data 

demonstrating a positive safety impact, there can be no public benefit to applying 

this requirement; especia lly to a foreign aircra ft . 

Mitigation 

• Occupancy of the stretcher during TT &L will be limited to non-ambulatory 

persons. 

• An operating limitation will be added to the limitations section of the airplane 

flight manual supplement and stated o n a conspicuously located placard: 

Occupancy is limited to non-ambu/at01y persons. 

Application of the Exemption 

This exemption is intended for application to existing and future Boeing 787-8 interi or 

programs by L-3 Communications. 

In accordance with 14 CFR 11.8 1 (h), we request the privilege of this exemption outside 

of the United States since the operators are located in foreign countries. 

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Federal Register publication 

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

publication for public comment because the request is identical in all material respects to 

previously granted exemptions; the exemption, if granted, would not set a precedent; and any 

delay in acting on this petition would be detrimental to L-3 Communications. 

The FAA's analysis 

Due to humanitarian considerations, the FAA considers the transportation of persons needing 

medical attention by air to be essential and in the public interest. In many instances, those 

persons can be transported onl y on stretchers. 

L-3 Communications has requested relief fi·om §§ 25.562 and 25.785(b), which contains the 

requirement for berths to provide adequate occupant protection under the inertia loads of 

§§ 25.561 and 25.562. 

The FAA agrees that demonstrating compliance with the requirements of§ 25.562 for a litter 

(stretcher) or berth would be very difficult and that applicability of the existing pass/fail criteria 

is questionable in that case. The FAA has also considered the cost implications and overall 

benefits resulting from the proposed use of stretchers. One possible alternative, in the absence of 

the relief L-3 Communications requested, would be to seek an airplane that is not required to 

comply with the dynamic-test requirements. That alternative, if available, would not offer any 

safety benefit because the stretcher carrier installation would still not be required to meet the 

dynamic-test criteria. Should that alternative not be available, a person would be forced to 

forego expedient air transport altogether, with potentially fatal consequences. Any safety benefit 

from requiring a stretcher carri er installation to meet the dynamic-test requirements would 

certainly be moot if the necessary medical allention were unavailable due to prohibitive costs. In 

any event, safe occupancy of li tters or berths during taxi, takeoff, and landing (TT &L) is not 

considered feasible under the crash conditions described in § 25.562. 

The need for passenger carriage on a stretcher in transport-category airplanes is very infrequent. 

The accident exposure of persons 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, granti ng the requested relief 

would not set a precedent for the traveling public in general. 

T he FAA's decision 

In consideration or the foregoing, I find that a grant of exemption is in the public interest and will 

not significantly affect the overall level of safety provided by the regulations. Therefore, 

pursuant to the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. 40113 and 44701 delegated to me by the 

Administrator, I grant L-3 Communications 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 of medical stretcher caniers on Boeing Model 787-8 airplanes. provided that 

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occupancy during TT&L is limited to non-ambulatory persons. The following operating 

limitation must be added to the limitations section of the airplane flight manual supplement and 

stated on a conspicuously located placard: 

Occupancy is limited to non-ambulatory persons. 

Issued in Renton, Washington, on FEB 2 3 2016 

Dionne Palermo 

Acting Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate 

Aircraft Certification Service 

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