# G GRAHAM

MEDIA

GROUP U.S

. Department

of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration 1200

New Jersey

A venue,

SE Washington,

DC 20590

January

13, 2016 Re: Petition

of Graham

Media

Group

For Exemption

Pursuant

to Section

333

of the FAA Modernization

and Reform

Act of2012 To Whom

It May Concern: Graham

Media

Group,

Inc

. ("GMG")

requests

pursuant

to Section

333

of

the FAA Modernization

and Reform

Act

of 2012 ("Section

333")

and

14 C.F.R.

Part

11

an Exemption from

the Federal Aviation Administration

("FAA") Regulations

identified

in Section

II below. GMG

seeks

an Exemption

so

as

to permit

it

to operate unmanned

aircraft weighing

less

than



# 55 pounds

for aerial

data collection.

In particular,

GMG

owns

five television

stations

and intends

to use

UA

for newsgathering

and related activities

at

its television

stations.

1 

# The Exemption

sought

by GMG

is within

the authority

of the FAA

to grant

under Section 333

and

14 C.F.R.

Part

11, and

is consistent

with

a number

of such exemptions

that

have

been recently

granted

by the FAA under equivalent circumstances

. 2 

# I. Operator/Petitioner. The name

of the Operator/Petitioner

is: Graham

Media

Group,

Inc. 161

N

. Clark

Street Suite

2900 Chicago,

IL 60601 1 

# GMG

owns KRPC (Houston,

TX), KSAT

(San Antonio,

TX), WDIV (Detroit.

Ml),

W JXT (Jacksonville

, FL)

and WKMG (Orlando,

FL).

Each station

is

a wholly-owned

subsidiary

ofGMG.

The exemption

being sought

would

be for

the benefit

of each

ofits currently-owned

stations

and any

future television

station wholly-owned

by GMG. 2 

# See Exemption

No. 11408,

Arrow

Data,

LLC

, Docket

No

. FAA-2015-0131

(April

22

, 2015)

; Exemption

No. 11841, Motown

Digital

, LLC, Docket

No

. FAA-2015

- 0529

(June

17, 2015); Exemption

No. 12174,

Cable

New

s Network,

Inc.

, Docket

No

.

F AA-20 15-1851

(July

27

, 20

15)

; Exemption

No.

1290

I, Cox Media

Group,

LLC, Docket

No. FAA-2015-2672

(Sept.

17, 2015).

Each

of the cited Exempt

i ons refers

to additional Exemptions

deemed by

the FAA

to have presented "circumstances

similar

in

all material respects"

to the cited Exemptions. SSO West Lafayette Boulevard



# t Detroit,

Ml 48226Contactinformationforpurposesofthispetition:JohnJ.Ronayne,IIIVicePresident&SeniorCounselGrahamMediaGroup550W.LafayetteBoulevardDetroit,MI48226jronavne@grahammedia.com(313)223-2274II.RegulationsFromWhichReliefIsReguested.GMGrequestsexemptionfromthefollowingsectionsof14CFR:61.23(a)and(c)(medicalcertificates)61.101(e)(4)and(5)(recreationalpilot)61.113(a)(privatepilotcertificationandqualification)61.315(a)(sportpilot)91.7(a)(airworthiness)91.119(minimumsafealtitudes)91.121(altimeter)14C.F.R.91.151(a)(1)(fuelrequirementsinVFRconditions)14C.F.R.91.405(a)(maintenance)14C.F.R.91.407(a)(l)(approvalforreturntoservice)14C.F.R.91.409(a)(l)and(2)(annualandairworthinesscertificationinspection)14C.F.R.91.417(a)and(b)(maintenancerecords)AnyadditionalregulationanexemptionfromwhichisdeemedappropriatebytheFAAfortheUAoperationsdescribedinthispetition.III.MakeandModelofProposedAircraft:GMGseeksanexemptionforthefollowinglistedUA.Innearlyallinstances,alinkisprovidedtodescriptivematerialsforthespecificUA,aswellastotheFlight/OperationsManual.Ineachinstance,theFAAhaspreviouslyissuedoneormoreexemptionwithrespecttothesameUA.3Ineachinstance,onesuchpriorExemptionisidentified.CyPhyWorksPersistentAerialReconnaissanceandCommunicationSystem(PARC)http://cvohvworks.com/robots/parc/PreviousExemptionNo.12174B(CNN)3Or,inthecaseoftherecentlyannouncedDJilnspirePro,anExemptionwasissuedwithrespecttoasubstantiallyequivalentearlierversion.2DJIPhantom3Professionalhttp://www.dii.com/product/phantom-3-proPreviousExemptionNo.12901(Cox)Flight/OperationsManualhttps://dl.diicdn.com/downloads/phantom3/en/Phantom3ProfessionalUserManualV1.6.pdfonPhantom3Advancedhttp://www.dji.com/product/phantom-3-advPreviousExemptionNo.12901(Cox)Flight/OperationsManualhttps://dl.diicdn.com/downloads/phantom3/en/Phantom3AdvancedUserManualV1.6.pdfDnInspire1http://www.dji.com/product/inspire-1PreviousExemptionNo.12174(CNN)Flight/OperationsManualhttps://dl.diicdn.com/downloads/inspirelien/InspireIUserManualenv2.01218.pdfDJIInspire1Prohttp://www.dii.com/product/inspire-l-pro-and-rawSubstantiallyequivalenttotheDJIInspireI(above)Flight/OperationsManualhttp://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/inspire1pro/en/Inspire1ProUserManualenv1.01201.pdfDJISpreadingWingsS900http://www.dji.com/product/spreading-wings-S900PreviousExemptionNo.11841(MotownDigital)Flight/OperationsManualhttp://dl.diicdn.com/downloads/s900/en/S900UserManualvl.2en.pdfDJISpreadingWingsS1000http://www.dji.com/product/spreading-wingss1000?www=v1PreviousExemptionNo.12746(Bitcentral)Flight/OperationsManualhttp://dl.diicdn.com/downloads/slOOO/en/SIOOOUserManualvl.10en.pdf3DRoboticsSolohttps://3drobotics.com/solo-drone/PreviousExemptionNo.121748(CNN)Flight/OperationsManualhttps://3drobotics.com/wo-content/uploads/2016/0llv8010516.pdfYuneecTyphoonQ500+https://www.yuneec.com/Tvnhoon-0500plusPreviousExemptionNo.12159(Eye-In-The-Sky)Flight/OperationsManualhttps://www.yuneec.com/download/manuals/tvnhoong500plususermanualv2.0.pdf3AirRobotAR180hty>s://www.unmannedsystemssource.com/wpcontent/uploads/2014/05/WP-AirRobot-AR180C-em.pdfPreviousExemptionNo.12174B(CNN)AltusUASDeltaX8hty>://media.wix.com/ugd/c4706cOcae72934flJb46b2bfl67a02fec00b5b.pdfPreviousExemptionNo.12174B(CNN)IV.Safety.PetitionerfirmlybelievesthatiftherequestedExemptionisgranted,theresultingoperationswillbeasormoresafethanthealternative.Thisconclusionisbaseduponthefollowing:1)GMGiscommittedtostrictlyadheringtoGrahamMediaGroupUnmannedAircraftPolicy("GMGUAPolicy,"acopyofwhichwillbesubmittedunderseparatecover),whichincludesbyreferencetheOperationsManualofthesubjectUA,andtheConditionsandLimitationsimposedbytheFAAinpreviouslygrantedExemptionsandexpectedtobeimposedintherequestedExemption.2)EachofthesubjectUAisinsize,weight,maximumgroundspeedandoperationalcapabilitywellwiththestandardssetforthinFAA'spreviouslyimposedConditionsandLimitations.TheUAforwhichanExemptionissought(orasubstantiallysimilarversion)havepreviouslybeenthesubjectofExemptionsgrantedbytheFAA.3)Priortoeachflight,theUAwillbeinspectedinaccordancewithPre-FlightChecklistincorporatedintotheGMGUAPolicy.InaccordancewiththatPolicy,aUA-specificmaintenanceplanandschedulebasedonmanufacturer'sdirectivesshallbeadheredto,andflightandmaintenancerecordsshallbekeptforeachUA.4)ThePilotandVisualObserverwillcomplywiththerequirementsoftheConditionsandLimitations.Inaddition,eachwillbesubjecttoUA-specifictraining,andpracticeflightexperience,assetforthintheGMGUAPolicy.5)AsinpreviouslygrantedExemptions,theUAoperationforwhichanExemptionissoughtwouldresultin"enhancedsafety"ascomparedtotheuseofmannedaircraftofsignificantlygreaterproportions,carryingcrewandflammablefuel.TheExemptionrequestedissimilarinallmaterialrespectswithExemptionspreviouslygrantedbyFAAinsimilarcircumstances.Aswasfoundinthoseothercircumstances?"enhancedsafety[willbe]achievedbyusinganunmannedaircraft."4V.PublicInterest.Assetforthabove,the"enhancedsafety"resultingfromtheuseofUAisinthepublicinterest.Inaddition,asalicenseeoftheFederalCommunicationsCommission,eachGMGstationisstatutorilyobligatedtoactinthepublicinterest.TheGMGstationsarerecognizedasnews-leaders.Eachisdeeplyinvolvedinlocalinitiativesandpublicserviceprojectsintendedtoserve,informandimproveitscommunity.Asubstantialportionofeachstation's24-hourbroadcastdayisdevotedtolocalnewsproducedbythestation.Intimesoflocalornationalbreakingnewsoremergencies,orextreme weather,itiscommonthatnon-newsprogrammingissuspendedandreplacedbylivelocalnews.ThegrantoftherequestedExemptionwilladdanimportantelementtotheabilityoftheGMGstationstocontinuetoservethepublicinterestofthecommunitiestheyserve.ThecontemplatedUAoperationswillaffordtheGMGstationsasafe,efficient,economicalandflexiblemeanstodelivertotheirviewersinanenhancedwaythenewsoftheday.VI.Conclusion.ThegrantoftheExemptionrequestedinthispetitionwouldbeentirelyconsistentwithandwarrantedbynumerousExemptionspreviouslygrantedbytheFAAundercircumstancessimilarinallmaterialrespectstothoseherepresented.GMGappreciatesyourpromptattentiontothispetition.Ifyouhaveanyquestions,pleasedonothesitatetocontactme.Sincerely,5