U.S

. Deportment of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration 

### June 1, 2015

Ms. Carrie A. Sm ith Parent of Sarah Ann Smith 685 Whispering Pine Trail South Mount Vernon , TX 75457 D ear Ms. Smith: Exemption No. 11720 80 0 I nde pendence Ave

. S W Wa s hington

. 0 C 2059 1



### Regu latory Docket No. F AA-20 15-1775

This letter is to inform you that we have granted yo ur request for exempt ion. It transmits ou r decision, explains it s basis, and li sts the conditions and limitation s of the exemption, including the date it ends. 

### The Basis for Our Decision By letter posted to the docket on May 19 , 2015 , you petitio ned the Federal Aviation Admi ni stration (FAA) on behalf of your daughter Sarah Ann Smith for an exemption from § 

### 121.311 (b) of T it le 14 , Code of Federal R eg ulati ons ( 14 CFR). That exe mption , if gra nted , would allow Sarah to exceed the specified weight and/or height limit for an FAA-approv ed child restraint system (CAReS, manufactured by AmSafe Corporation) , du rin g use of that chi ld restraint system (CRS) aboard a United States (U.S.)-reg i stered aircraft. The FAA has dete rmin ed that good cause exists for not publishing a summary of the petition in the Federal Reg is ter because the requ es t ed exe mption would not set a precedent, and any delay in acting on thi s petit ion wou ld be d etrim en ta l to Sarah Ann. The FAA has issued gra nt s of exemption in c ircum stances s imilar in a ll mater ial r es pect s to those presented in your petition. In Grant of Exemption No. 9834 (copy e nclo sed), the FAA found that numerou s persons with physical cha ll enges had previously completed nights usin g r estrai nt systems that addressed uniqu e physical needs regarding satety, s upp ort, and securit y in the same manner of operation s as d esc ribed in this petition. Th e FAA furth er found that the petition would not se t any new precedent regarding th e use of restraint sys tems by persons with disabiliti es.

AFS-15-1842-E

### 2 Having reviewed your reas ons for requ est in g an exe mption , I find that

- • th ey are simi lar in a ll material resp ec t s to re li ef prev ious ly re que s te d in th e e nclosed Grant of Exemption No. 9834; • the reasons s tat ed by the FAA fo r grantin g th e e nc losed Grant ofExe m p ti o n No. 9834 also app l y to the situatio n you p resent ; and • a gra n t of exempti on i s in th e publi c in terest. 

### Our Decision Under the a uthori ty co ntain ed in 49 U.S.C. 

### §§ I 06(t), 40113 and 4470 I, whic h the FAA Admin i s trat or h as d e lega te d to me , 

### I hereby g r a nt Sarah Ann Smith an exe mption from 

### § 12 1.311 (b). ln addition, a ny a ir carrier or co mm e rc ial ope rator operating under part 

### 121 w hil e Sa rah i s aboard it s a ir craft is granted an exempti on from 14 CFR 

### § 12 1 .31 1 (b) to the extent necessary to a ll ow h er to use an FAA-app rove d CRS aboa rd a U.S.-registe red a ir craft. A ll operatio n s un der thi s exemp tion must be cond u cted w ith Sarah' s paren t o r a caregiver acco mp a nyi n g he r . Sarah may only occupy a passe n ger sea t with n o passenger seated b e hind he r. In addit ion, Sara h ' s parent or car egiver mu s t ca rry a copy of thi s exe mption a nd adv i se the a ir car rier about the contents of th e exe mpti o n at least 48 h o urs b efo re th e date of eac h fli g ht. Thi s exe mpti o n term i nates o n June 30, 2020, unle ss soo ne r s up ersede d or rescinded. Si n ce re ly,



# ~~~A

John Barbagallo Deputy Director , Fligh t Standard s Serv ice

E n c lo s ure