U.S. Deportment 

of Transportation 

Federal Aviation 

Administration 

January 15, 2016 

Mr. Emery P. Wiltse 

ODA Enterprise Program Admi nistrator 

Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation 

P.O. Box 2206 

Savannah, Georgia 31402-2206 

Dear Mr. Wiltse: 

Transport Airplane Directorate 

1601 Lind Avenue, S.W. 

Renton, Washington 98057-3356 

Exemption No. 13281 A 

Regulatory Docket No. f AA-2015-2330 

This is to inform you that we have amended Exemption No. 13281. This letter explains the 

basis for our decision and describes the effect ol the amendment. 

The Basis for· Our Decision 

By letter (e-mail) elated October 22, 2015, you petitioned the Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), on behalf of Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation. for an amendment 

to Exemption No. 13281. This exemption pertains to Gulfstream Model GVl airplanes 

operated for private-use, not for hire, not for common ean-iage and provides relief from 

§ 25.813(e) ofTitle 14, Code of Federal Regulations ( 14 CFR) at Amendment 25-116. Title 

14 CFR 25.813(e) states that no door may be insta lled between any passenger seat that is 

occupiable for takeoff and landing and any passenger emergency exit. 

We granted the exemption with several conditions based on design tcatures proposed by 

Gulfstream. Your petition for amendment states that although Gul fstream proposed an 

automatic stowage feature for the mid-cabin interior door, it was intended as a safety feature 

to support a request tor approval for 14 CFR part 135 operations. Since the exemption is 

limited to private-use operation only, Gulfstream wishes to install manua lly-operated midcabin doors instead of doors with automatic stowing features. Therefore, Gulfstream 

requests the removal of the following four conditio ns applicable to automatica ll y-activated 

doors: 

• Condition 2 requires automatic stowage of the interior door ir the landing gear is 

down or the flaps are not fully retracted. The door must remain open until the 

landing gear and flaps are both fully retracted. 

• Condition 4 requires that the door must be designed so that it can only be closed 

(deployed) when the landing gear and flaps are fully retracted (a irborne 

configuration) or for ground maintenance activity. 
• Condition 5 requires that the door must be designed so that for any failure of the 

closing/latching mechanism, the door will default to the stowed position. 

2 

• Condition 6 requires substantiation that the probability of fai lure to egress through 

the main entry door, including the probability of failure of both interior doors, is less 

than l o-s per Oight hour. 

Your petition for amendment assetts that the above-I is ted conditions have not been present 

in any of the existing exemptions previously issued. We note that these conditions were 

included in Exemption No. 10188 for the Gulfstream Model GVI airplane acoustic and 

vestibule doors, which are permitted in part 135 operations. However, we agree that we 

have not required these conditions when the aircraft has been limited to private use, not for 

hire, not for common carriage operations. 

Federal Register Publication 

The FAA has detetmined that good cause exists for not publishing a summary of the petition 

in the Federal Register for public comment because the requested amendment to the 

exemption would not set a precedent. 

Our Decision 

The FAA has determined that the j ustifica tion for the issuance of Exemption No. 1328 1 

remains valid with respect to this amendment and is in the public interest. Since Gulfstream 

is not installing micl~cabin interior doors with an automatic stow feature and the exemption 

is applicable to airpl anes limited to private-usc, not for hire, not for common can·iage 

operation; the above-listed conditions are not applicable. 

The Effect of Our Decision 

This amendment removes conditions 2, 4, 5, and 6 (listed above) from the limitations for 

which the exemption is granted. 

The Grant of Amended Exemption 

Pursuant to the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. 40113 anc144701 , delegated to me by the 

Administrator. 1 grant Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation an amendment to Exemption 

No. 13281 which removes the conditions numbered 2. 4, 5, and 6 from the list of conditions 

applicable to this exemption. 

The operating limitation and all other conditions of Exemption No. 1328 1 remain the same. 

This letter must be attached to, and is a part of, Exemption No. 1328 1. 

Jeffrey E. Duvcn 

Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate 

Aircraft Certification Service