AFS-11-377-E 

April 4, 2012 

 Exemption No. 10499 

 Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2011-0728 

Mr. Robert L. Fox Jr. 

Director of Maintenance 

Landmark Aviation 

P.O. Box 525 

Winston-Salem, NC 27102 

Dear Mr. Fox: 

This letter is to inform you that we have granted your request for exemption. It transmits our 

decision, explains its basis, and gives you the conditions and limitations of the exemption, 

including the date it ends. 

The Basis for Our Decision 

By letter dated June 15, 2011, you petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on 

behalf of Landmark Aviation (Landmark), for an exemption from § 135.151 of Title 14, Code 

of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) to the extent necessary to allow Landmark’s Gulfstream 

aircraft (N847RC) to utilize controller pilot data link communication (CPDLC) prior to the 

availability of data link recording software from Gulfstream that enables the capability of 

recording data link communications. 

A summary of the petition was published in the Federal Register on October 4, 2011 

(76 FR 61473). No comments were received. 

The FAA has issued a grant of exemption in circumstances similar in all material respects to 

those presented in your petition. In Grant of Exemption No. 10433 (copy enclosed), the FAA 

found that introduction of newer, safer, more fuel-efficient airplanes are in the public interest. 

The FAA has determined that this device does not affect the aircraft’s handling 

characteristics, navigation or communication system. The data link communication recorder 
2 

is designed to collect the data link communication information for post accident investigation 

and not for operation of the aircraft. Your Gulfstream aircraft is equipped with a flight data 

recorder and a cockpit voice recorder (CVR); the only information not collected on the CVR 

is the data link communication. The FAA finds that while the manufacturer is responsible for 

the software, it is the responsibility of the operator to update the software as soon as it is 

available. Therefore, the FAA finds that approval of this exemption would not adversely 

affect the safety of flight and will allow Landmark to continue to operate the Gulfstream 

aircraft until there is an available software update. 

Having reviewed your reasons for requesting an exemption, I find that— 

 they are similar in all material respects to relief previously requested in the enclosed Grant 

of Exemption No. 10433; 

 the reasons stated by the FAA for granting the enclosed Grant of Exemption No. 10433 

also apply to the situation you present; and 

 for the reasons stated in Grant of Exemption No. 10433, a grant of exemption is in the 

public interest. 

Our Decision 

Under the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 40113 and 44701, which the FAA 

Administrator has delegated to me, I hereby grant Landmark an exemption from 

14 CFR § 135.151 to the extent necessary to allow Landmark to utilize CPDLC prior to the 

availability of datalink recording software from Gulfstream that enables the capability of 

recording data link communications, subject to the conditions and limitations listed below. 

Conditions and Limitations 

1. This exemption only applies to the following aircraft while registered to and 

operated by Landmark: 

Make Model Registration No. Serial No. 

Gulfstream G450 N847RC 4215 

2. This exemption covers only the recordation of the approved datalink 

communication message set as required by 14 CFR § 135.151(h). 

3. A copy of this exemption must be retained with Landmark’s airplane flight manual 

until the airplane identified in the exemption has incorporated the system 

modifications. 

4. In the event of an accident or incident after which the CVR data must be sent to the 

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Landmark must provide a copy of 

this exemption to the NTSB along with the data. 
3 

5. Following issuance of this grant, Landmark must within 30 days provide to its 

principal avionics inspector a schedule for the completion of the new installations 

for the affected airplane. 

This exemption terminates on October 9, 2012, unless sooner superseded or rescinded. 

Sincerely, 

/s/ 

Raymond Towles 

Acting Director, Flight Standards 

 Service 

Enclosure