1 July 15 th , 2015 U. S. Department of Transportation Docket Managemen t System 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE Washington, DC 2O59O

Re: Exemption Request Section 333 of the FAA Reform Act and Part ll of the Federal Aviation Regulations from l4 CFR 6l.ll3 (a) & (b); 9l.lO3(b); 9l.ll9; 9l.l2l; 9l.l5l(a); 9l.4O5 (a); 9l.4O7(a) (l); 9l.4O9 (a) (2); 9l.4l7 (a) & (b).

Dear Sir or Madam:

Pursuant to Section 333 of the FAA Modernization an d Reform Act of 2012 (the Reform Act) and l4

C.F.R. Part ll, Jacobsen Construction Company, a construction company, hereby applies for an exemption from the listed Federal Aviation Regulations (“FARs”) to allow commercial operation of its Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (“sUAS”) for aerial imaging for safety and monitori ng of secured and

controlled environment construction sites, so long as such ope rations are conducted within and under the conditions outlined herein or as may be establi shed by the FAA as required by Section 333. As detailed in this document, the requested exemption would permit the operation of sUAS under controlled conditions in airspace that is l) limited 2) predetermined 3) controlled a s to access and 4) would provide safety enhancements to the already best practices safety p rotocols followed by Jacobsen at each

one of its construction sites. Approval of this exempti on would thereby enhance safety and fulfill the Secretary of Transportation’s (the FAA Administrato r’s) responsibilities to “...establish requirements for the safe operation of such aircraft systems in the national airspace system.” Section 333(c) of the Reform

Act.

The name and address of the applicant is:

Jacobsen Construction

3131 W 2210 S Salt Lake City, UT 84119

PH: 801-574-1631 Email: mdecker@jacobsenconstruction.com

Regulations from which the exemption is requested:

l4 C.F.R. Part 2l l4 C.F.R. 45.23(b)

l4 C.F.R. 6l.ll3 (a) & (b) l4 C.F.R. 9l.7 (a) l4 C.F.R. 9l.9 (b) (2)

l4 C.F.R. 9l.lO3

l4 C.F.R. 9l.lO9

l4 C.F.R. 9l.ll9

l4 C.F.R. 9l.l2l l4 C.F.R. 9l.l5l (a)2 l4 C.F.R. 9l.2O3 (a) & (b) l4 C.F.R. 9l.4O5 (a) l4 C.F.R. 4O7 (a) (l) l4 C.F.R. 4O9 (a) (2) l4 C.F.R. 4l7 (a) & (b)

**I. STATUTORY AUTHORITY FOR EXEMPTIONS** The Federal Aviation Act expressly grants the FAA a uthority to issue exemptions. This statutory authority includes exempting civil a ircraft, as the term is defined under §4OlOl of the Act, including sUASs, from the requir ement that all civil aircraft must have a current

airworthiness certificate. The Administrator may grant an exemption from a req uirement of a regulation prescribed under subsection (a) or (b) of this section or any sectio ns 447O2-447l6 of this title if the Administrator f inds the exemption in the public interest. 49 U.S.C. §447Ol( f) See also 49 USC §447ll(a); 49 USC §447O4; l4 CFR §9l.2O3(a) (l). Section 333(b) of the Reform Act assists the Secret ary in determining whether sUAS may operate in the National Airspace System (NAS) without creating a hazard to the user, the public, or a threat to national security. If the Secretary determines that a sUAS “may operate safely in the national airspac e system, the Secretary shall establish requirements for the safe operation of such aircraft in the nati onal airspace system.” Id . §333(c). Jacobsen’s sUAS are multirotor vehicles, weighing 1 0 or fewer lbs. including payload. They operate under normal conditions at a speed of no more than 50 knots and have the capability to hover, and move in the vertical and horizontal plane simultaneously. T he sUAS will operate only in the Pilot’s visual lin e of sight at all times and will operate only within the proje ct area. Such operations will insure that the sUAS will “not create a hazard to users of the national airspace s ystem or the public.” Reform Act Section 333 (b).

Given the small size of the sUAS involved and the r estricted and project area within which they will operate, our application falls squarely within the zone of safety (an equivalent level of safety) in w hich Congress envisioned that the FAA must, by exemption , allow commercial operations of sUAS to commence immediately. Also due to the small size of the sUAS and the low altitudes and restricted areas in whic h the sUAS will operate, approval of the application pres ents no national security issue.
Given the clear direction in Section 333 of the Ref orm Act, the authority contained in the Federal Aviation Act, as amended; the strong equivalent lev el of safety surrounding the proposed operations, a nd the significant public benefit, including enhanced safety, the grant of the requested exemptions is in the public interest. Accordingly, Jacobsen respectfull y requests that the FAA grant the requested exempti on without delay.3 **II. PUBLIC INTEREST**  This exemption application is expressly submitted t o fulfill Congress’ goal in passing Section 333(a) through (c) of the Reform Act. This law directs the Secretary of Transportation to consider whether ce rtain unmanned aircraft systems may operate safely in the NAS before completion of the rulemaking required under Section 332 of the Reform Act. By granting an exemption the FAA will fulfill Congress’s intent o f allowing UAS to operate with significant safety pre cautions in low risk environments. The use of sUAS on a construction site can signific antly reduce the risk to workers of falls while inspecting, surveying, or monitoring site progress. sUAS can inspect, photograph, and collect data on hard to get to areas that otherwise would require worker inspection. Falls are a leading source of workplac e fatality and injury on construction sites l , and reducing falls through sUAS use for site imag ing could save
workers lives. Additionally, sUAS could replace the use of helicop ters and small aircraft to monitor sites. The sUAS we propose to fly in this application are under fiv e pounds, and carry no combustible material on boar d, as opposed to the much larger conventionally powered s mall aircraft. Shifting to sUAS from helicopters presents a marked safety increase for our workers a nd the public. Lastly, sUAS reduce the environmental impact by dra matically decreasing the energy used for aerial imaging and data collection over a construction sit e. Our sUAS use rechargeable lithium ion batteries, as opposed to fossil fuels burned in operation of smal l aircraft that are many hundreds of times heavier.

**III. EQUIVALENT LEVEL OF SAFETY**  Jacobsen proposes that the exemption requested here in apply to sUAS that have the characteristics and that operate with the limitations listed herein . These limitations provide for at least an equival ent or even higher level of safety to operations under the current regulatory structure because the proposed operations represent a safety enhancement to the al ready safe protocols followed on construction sites and imaging and surveying operations conducted with hel icopters and other conventional aircraft. Jacobsen will be bound by the following limitations when conducting its sUAS operations under an FAA issued exemption:

1. The sUAS will be less than 10 pounds.

2. Flights will be operated within visual line of sigh t of a pilot.

3. Maximum total flight time for each operational flig ht will be 30 minutes. The UAS calculates battery reserve in real time, and will return to its ground station with at least 2O% battery power reserve should that occur prior to the 3O minute limit.

4. Flights will normally be operated at an altitude of 200 feet AGL, never exceeding 400 feet AGL.

5. Any site within 5 miles of an airport will not be f lown without notification and approval of the local FAA Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) a nd airport controller.

6. Crew for each operation will consist of the sUAS Pi lot who will keep the sUAS within his visual line of sight at all times.

7. The sUAS Pilot will be trained in flight, operation s, and safety procedures as detailed in the Flight

Manual.

8. The sUAS will only operate within a confined “Steri le Area” as defined in the Manual. The Manual also requires the establishment of a “Security Perimeter ” for the flight operations area.

9. A briefing will be conducted in regard to the plann ed sUAS operations prior to each day’s production

activities.

10. All onsite personnel will consent to the UAS flyove r on site by waiver, and the operator will obtain additional verbal or written consent of all persons who will be allowed within 100 feet of the flight operation.

11. Pilot will have been trained in operation of UASs g enerally and received up-to-date information on the particular UAS to be operated as required by of the Manual.

12. Written and/or oral permission from the relevant pr operty holders will be obtained.4

13. All required permissions and permits will be obtain ed from territorial, state, county or city jurisdictions, including local law enforcement, fir e, or other appropriate governmental agencies.

14. If the sUAS loses communications or loses its GPS s ignal, it will have capability to enter “loiter mode” and hover, reestablish satellite connection, and return to a pre- determined location within the Security Perimeter and land.

1 “Commonly Used Statistics”, Occupational Safety & H ealth Administration. Available at: https://www.osha.gov/oshstats/commonstats.html

**IV. DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC REGULATIONS** 

**14 CFR 61.113 (a) & (b): Private pilot privileges a nd limitations: Pilot in command** 

Sections 6l.ll3 (a) & (b) limit private pilots to n on-commercial operations. Because the sUAS will not carry a pilot or passengers, the proposed operations can achieve the equivalent level of safety of current operations by requiring the Pilot operating the aircraft to have (l) completed a sUAS flight traini ng course of lOO hours before flying a sUAS (See Section F of the Manual for more details ) and (2) a Sport Pilot certificate. The FAA has previously acknowledged in prior grants of exemption under Section 333 that a commercial pilot’s certificate was not necessary to operate a sUAS, but that the FAA could not waive t he requirement for an FAA-issued pilot’s license. A Sp ort Pilot certificate addresses the FAA’s requireme nt that the Pilot in command have the requisite training an d understanding of the National Airspace System, an d also ensures that the Pilot is registered with the FAA and will not pose a risk to national security. The Sport Pilot certificate also does not require the Pilot t o undertake the additional cost and time of additio nal manned aviation flight time that the Private Pilot’ s license requires and which will not translate to skill or competency operating the sUAS.

Unlike a conventional aircraft that carries the pil ot and passengers, the sUAS is remotely controlled with no living thing or cargo on board. Jacobsen’s sUAS is also operated by an autopilot, which greatly reduce s the danger of human error. The area of operation is con trolled and restricted to hard hat areas, and all f lights are planned and coordinated in advance.

The sUAS to be operated hereunder is less than 10 l bs. fully loaded, carries neither a pilot nor passe nger, carries no explosive materials or flammable liquid fuels, and operates exclusively within a secured ar ea. Like other civil aircraft, operations under this exempti on will be tightly controlled and monitored by the operator and under the requirements and in compliance with l ocal public safety requirements, to provide securit y for the area of operation as is currently done on activ e construction sites. The FAA will have advance not ice of all operations.

The risks associated with the operation of the sUAS are therefore diminished from the level of risk associated with commercial operations contemplated by Part 6l when drafted, and allowing operations of the sUAS as requested with a Pilot who has met t he minimum requirements stated in Section F of the Manual achieves the level of safety contemplated by l4 C.F.R. §6l.ll3 (a) & (b).

**14 C.F.R. 91.103: Preflight Action**

This regulation requires each pilot in command take certain actions before flight to ensure the safety of flight. An exemption is needed from this requirement as the Pilot will take separate preflight actions, includ ing checking for weather conditions, checking flight ba ttery requirements, checking takeoff and landing distances, and all other actions in the Preflight C hecklist in the Manual. These actions will provide an5 equivalent level of safety.

**14 C.F. R. 91.119: Minimum Safe Altitudes**

Section 9l.ll9 establishes safe altitudes for opera tion of civil aircraft. Section 9l.ll9 (d) allows helicopters to be operated at less than the minimums prescribed , provided the person operating the helicopter complies with any route or altitudes prescribed for helicopters by the FAA. This exemption is for a multirotor craft that flies similarly to a helicopter, with vertical takeoff and vertical land ing, which will typically operate at altitudes of 200 AGL, so an exemption may be needed to allow such op erations. The sUAS will never operate at altitude higher than 4OO AGL and will be in a restricted area with security perimeter, where buildings and people will not be e xposed to operations without their pre-obtained

consent.

The equivalent level of safety will be achieved giv en the size, weight, speed of the sUAS as well as t he location where it is operated. No flight will be ta ken without the permission of the property owner or local officials. Because of the advance notice to the pro perty owner and any onsite all affected individuals will be aware of the planned flight operations. Unlike flig ht operations with aircraft or rotorcraft weighing far more than the maximum 10 lbs. proposed herein, our sUAS will not carry flammable fuel. In addition, the lowaltitude operations of the sUAS will ensure separation between sUAS operations and the operatio ns of
conventional aircraft that must comply with Section 9l.ll9.

**14 C.F.R. 91.121: Altimeter Settings**

This regulation requires each person operating an a ircraft to maintain cruising altitude by reference to an altimeter that is set “...to the elevation of the d eparture airport or an appropriate altimeter settin g available before departure.” As the sUAS may not have a barom etric altimeter, but instead a GPS altitude read ou t, an exemption may be needed. An equivalent level of safety will be achieved by the operator, pursuant t o the Manual and Safety Check list, confirming the al titude of the launch site shown on the GPS altitude indicator before flight.

**14 CFR 91.151 (a): Fuel requirements for flight in VFR conditions**  Section 9l.l5l (a) outlines fuel requirements for b eginning a flight in VFR conditions. Our sUAS is limited to operations in controlled environments and has a lim ited range and flight time which require an exemption from l4 CFR 9l.l5l(a).

The battery powering the sUAS provides approximatel y 35 minutes of powered flight. To meet the 30 minute reserve requirement in l4 CFR §9l.l5l, sUAS flights would be limited to approximately 5 minutes in length. Given the limitations on the sUAS’s proposed flight area and the location of its propos ed operations within a predetermined area, a longer time frame for flight in daylight or night VFR conditions is

reasonable.

Jacobsen believes that an exemption from l4 CFR §9l .l5l(a) falls within the scope of prior exemptions. See Exemption lO673 (allowing Lockheed Martin Corpo ration to operate without compliance with FAR 9l.l5l (a)). Operating the small sUAS, in a tightly controlled area where only people and property owne rs or official representatives who have signed waivers will be allowed, with less than 3O minutes of reserve fuel, does not engender the type of risks that Section 9l.l5l(a) w as intended to alleviate given the size and speed of the small UAS. Additionally, limiting sUAS flights to 10 minutes would greatly reduce the utility for which the exemption will be granted.

An equivalent level of safety can be achieved by li miting flights to 30 minutes, or enough battery res erve to6 ensure that the sUAS lands at the ground station wi th at least 2O% of battery power (as determined by the onboard monitoring system and the Pilot), whichever happens first. This restriction would be more than adequate to return the sUAS to its planned landing zone from anywhere in its limited operating area.

Similar exemptions have been granted to other opera tions, including Exemptions 2689F, 5745, lO673, and

lO8O8.

**14 CFR 91.405 (a); 407 (a)(1); 409 (a)(2); 417 (a) & (b): Maintenance inspections** 

These regulations require that an aircraft operator or owner “shall have that aircraft inspected as pr escribed in subpart E of this part and shall between require d inspections, except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, have discrepancies repaired as prescribed in part 43 of this chapter...,” and others shall in spect or maintain the aircraft in compliance with Part 43.

Given that these sections and Part 43 apply only to aircraft with an airworthiness certificate, these sections will not apply to Jacobsen. Maintenance will be acc omplished by the operator pursuant to the flight ma nual and operating handbook. An equivalent level of safe ty will be achieved because these small sUAS are ve ry limited in size and will carry a small payload and operate only in restricted areas for limited period s of time.
If mechanical issues arise the sUAS can land immedi ately and will be operating from no higher than 4OO feet

AGL. The Pilot will ensure that the sUAS is in work ing order prior to initiating flight, perform requi red maintenance, and keep a log of any maintenance perf ormed. Moreover, the Pilot is the person most famil iar
with the aircraft and best suited to maintain the a ircraft in an airworthy condition to provide the eq uivalent level of safety.

+++++++++

Pursuant to l4 C.F.R. Part ll, the following summary is provided for publication i n the Federal Register, should it be determined that publication is needed:

Applicant seeks an exemption from the following rul es: l4 C.F.R. §2l, subpart H; l4 C.F.R 45.23(b);l4 C.F.R. §§ 6l.ll3( a) & (b);9l.7

(a); 9l.9 (b) (2);9l.lO3(b);9l.lO9; 9l.ll9; 9l.l2l; 9l.l5l(a);9l.2O3(a) and (b); 9l.4O5 (a); 9l.4O7 (a) (l); 9l.4O9 (a) (2); 9l.4O9 (a) (2) and 9l.4l7 (a) & (b) to operate commercially a sma ll unmanned vehicle (55lbs or less) in construction op erations.

Approval of exemptions allowing commercial operatio ns of sUAS in the construction industry enhances safety while reducing risk. Manned aircraft monitor ing and surveying creates a greater risk because th e craft are much larger, have combustible fuel, and carry a n onboard human pilot. In contrast, a sUAS weighing fewer than 10 lbs. and powered by batteries elimina tes virtually all of that risk given the reduced ma ss and
lack of combustible fuel carried on board. The sUAS will carry no passengers or crew and, therefore, w ill not expose them to the risks associated with manned air craft flights.

The operation of small sUAS, weighing less than 10 lbs., conducted in the strict conditions outlined a bove, will provide an equivalent level of safety supporti ng the grant of the exemptions requested herein, in cluding exempting the applicant from the requirements of Pa rt 2l and allowing commercial operations. These lightweight aircraft operate at slow speeds, close to the ground, and in a sterile environment and, as a result, are far safer than conventional operations conducted with turbine helicopters operating in clo se proximity to the ground and people.7 **Privacy**

All flights will occur over private or controlled a ccess property with the property owner’s prior consent and knowledge. Images taken will be of individuals who have also consented to being filmed or otherwise have agreed to be in the area where aerial photography will take place.

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Satisfaction of the criteria provided in Section 33 3 of the Reform Act of 2Ol2--size, weight, speed, operating capabilities, controlled operating environment and operation within visual line of sight and national security – provide more than adequate justification for the grant of the requested exemptions allowing commercial operation of applicant’s sUAS in construction industry pursuant to the Manua l appended hereto.

Sincerely,

Mark Decker

Director of Virtual Design and Construction, Jacobsen Construction Company