Below please find revised text for the “Comments” portion of our Request for Exemption (FAA-2016-

0363-0001) as per US DOT/FAA Request for Additional Information (FAA-2016-0363-0002). This text is 

intended as an update to the text originally submitted in Response to RFIA (FAA-2016-0363-0003).

14 CFR 61.113(a)

Exemption to 14 CFR, Section 61.113 (a): Private pilot privileges and limitations: Pilot in command

Section 61.113 (a) states:

"(a) no person who holds a private pilot certificate may act as a pilot in command of an aircraft that is 

carrying passengers or property for compensation or hire; nor may that person, for compensation or 

hire, act as pilot in command of an aircraft."

As PrecisionHawk will be operating an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), PrecisionHawk will be using 

private pilots as the Pilot in Command (PIC), per their existing 333 exemption, based on the 

PrecisionHawk Lancaster (MK III) UAV. These PICs are employees of PrecisionHawk and will be 

compensated for their time per their employment contracts with PrecisionHawk. As such, 

PrecisionHawk is requesting exemption to 14 CFR Section 61.113 (a).

The EVLOS flights that PrecisionHawk conducts for the FAA’s Pathfinder Focus Area Two research will 

not involve an aircraft carrying passengers or property for hire. PrecisionHawk will not be charging for 

the flight operations as would be done in a commercial operation. The research for the UAS Pathfinder 

Focus Area Two, EVLOS, will be a research and development activity under the Cooperative Research 

and Development Agreement signed by the FAA on June 12, 2015, and PrecisionHawk is not being 

compensated for these activities. While the pilot in command of the UAS for this EVLOS research may 

be compensated as an employee or affiliate of the company, this does not equate to a compensation for 

hire operation. Accordingly, no exemption from FAR 61.113(a) is required.

In any event these activities will therefore generally be in line with 14 CFR §61.113 and will provide an 

equivalent level of safety. PrecisionHawk submits that because this small, unmanned aerial vehicle - the 

PrecisionHawk Lancaster Mk-III - will be used in lieu of comparatively hazardous operations now 

conducted with fixed-wing and rotary conventional aircraft, the FAA can have confidence that the 

operations will achieve at least an equivalent level or greater level of safety. The FAA has recognized 

this reduced risk in granting over 3, 000 exemptions from FAR 61.113(a) when it determined that an 

airman with a private pilot certificate would provide an equivalent level of safety as an airman with a 

commercial pilot certificate. Approval of this exemption would thereby enhance safety and fulfill the 
Secretary of Transportation's (the FAA Administrator's) responsibilities to "establish requirements for 

the safe operation of such aircraft systems in the national airspace system."

It is anticipated that 14 CFR §91.113 See and Avoid will be waived as a part of the COA process, and so it 

is not included in the list of exemption petitions. However, to be clear about the view of this section, the 

following is provided. The pilot in command has a responsibility to see any intruder aircraft at all times 

and must avoid any intruding aircraft. This EVLOS operation will be a “See and Avoid” operation at all 

times. During the research flights a Safety Observer (SO) will be stationed next to the pilot in command 

as an extra set of eyes to supplement the pilot’s observation of the sky. The remote visual observer will 

be part of the flight crew to enhance situational awareness of the pilot in command and to maintain 

visual surveillance of the airspace in which the UAV is flying at all times. Prior to conducting UAS 

operation a notification will be sent out to impacted aviation community to ensure awareness and 

enhance safety, and a NOTAM will be filed for every day that flight activities will be conducted. These 

requirements for the flight crew obligation to see traffic and the pilot’s responsibility to maneuver to 

avoid the traffic combined with the notification provisions and the NOTAM will provide an equivalent 

level of safety.

In addition, approval of this exemption will benefit the public by enabling the FAA's Pathfinder program 

to eventually extend the commercial use of unmanned aerial vehicles in the NAS to include extended 

and beyond visual line of sight operations, thereby opening up countless new commercial opportunities 

for American businesses. The Pathfinder initiative is a public-private partnership with the FAA with the 

objective of expanding the current regulatory framework for the benefit of the Unmanned Aircraft 

Vehicle industry at large. Under EVLOS operations a UAS operator will be able to conduct its agriculture 

analysis over a much larger area, possibly 5 times as large, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of this 

air commerce and providing a better service to the farmers and property owners. In addition to this 

improved service, the cost of these services can be reduced through economies of scale.