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amarabbit.jpg New Task Force to Develop Recommendations by November 20

WASHINGTON – U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and FAA Administrator Michael Huerta today announced the creation of a task force to develop recommendations for a registration process for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).

The task force will be composed of 25 to 30 diverse representatives from the UAS and manned aviation industries, the federal government, and other stakeholders. The group will advise the Department on which aircraft should be exempt from registration due to a low safety risk, including toys and certain other small UAS.

The task force also will explore options for a streamlined system that would make registration less burdensome for commercial UAS operators. The task force may make additional safety recommendations as it deems appropriate. Secretary Foxx directed the group to deliver its report by Nov. 20.

“Registering unmanned aircraft will help build a culture of accountability and responsibility, especially with new users who have no experience operating in the U.S. aviation system,” Foxx said.

“It will help protect public safety in the air and on the ground.” Every day, the FAA receives reports of potentially unsafe UAS operations. Pilot sightings of UAS doubled between 2014 and 2015.

The reports ranged from incidents at major sporting events and flights near manned aircraft, to interference with wildfire operations.

“These reports signal a troubling trend,” Huerta said.

“Registration will help make sure that operators know the rules and remain accountable to the public for flying their unmanned aircraft responsibly. When they don’t fly safely, they’ll know there will be consequences.”

While the task force does its work, the FAA will continue its aggressive education and outreach efforts, including the “Know Before You Fly” campaign and “No Drone Zone” initiatives with the nation’s busiest airports.

The agency also will continue to take strong enforcement action against egregious violators. At the same time, it will continue working with stakeholders to improve safety to ensure further integration and innovation in this promising segment of aviation.

Secretary Foxx was joined by representatives from the following stakeholder groups:

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International Academy of Model Aircraft Air Line Pilots Association American Association of Airport Executives Helicopter Association International PrecisionHawk AirMap/ Small UAV Coalition Consumer Electronics Association

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Comments

  • There seems to be a very large over reaction to a forecast that someone pulled out of .... Who has any details on how many drones are forcasted to be sold vs last year when many of us think that more than 1-Million were sold last year?

  • I wonder if the AMA could be in on this a little.  What if in order to register a "Drone", you had to belong to the AMA.  Lots of revenue could be rolling in.  Is this thought a little to conspiratorial?

    Regards,

    David R. Boulanger

  • ok heres what im getting...

    registerer all that you have i have 2.. 450 and a 250 racer..

    register pay them money

    ama sign up 38 a year

    local club sign up 35 bucks initally 60 a year..

    so 200 bucks a year to fly my little 250 racer quad no more then 20 feet high around a local park.. and my shelved 450 that i dont fly register that...

    now try to sell that 450 on craiglist no one will buy it cuz of the fees  like transferring a gun

    me whos out of work disabled flys 5 times a year if that for fun now has to spend that money.. wheres it going to come from..

    thanks people who fly irresponsible.. and thanks companies for making them so idiots can fly..

    i just dumped 600 bucks into a 250 racer to have fun.. now i have to pay uncle sam to register.. i bet they will do the you have to have insurance from the ama.. well thats 70... a year.. oh you also have to be in a club...

    god im sick of this what a waste.. can you tell im mad.. spent hundreds to learn i wont be able to fly....

    plus the fact local law enforcement will now haras you if they see you.. "got your papers" police state im telling you

  • Typical government non-solution.
    DOT chief: "YOU MUST REGISTER YOUR DRONE (for a nominal service fee) SO WE CAN COMBAT THE ACTIONS OF MORONS!!!"
    Moron-in-question: "Like I care about your piddly regulations.  I fart in your general direction."

    It's no different than government having a law requiring every driver to have insurance and then the insurance companies requiring you to have uninsured motorist coverage.

  • This is for everybody.  Recreational or commercial.  Heres the latest news take on things.

    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/10/19/faa-to-announce-drone-re...

    Regards,

    David R. Boulanger

  • Sorry Wyatt, I wish you were right, but,

    That is 100% NOT what the DOT said.

    It specifically did say that it affects recreational flyers as well.

    If there are or will be any limits at all on what it affects they have not been mentioned at this time.

    Right now it looks like 100%, we can only hope that turns out not to be the case.

    I wouldn't bank on it though.

    Best,

    Gary

  • this is only for businesses people.... if your an recreational flyer aka joe blow.. you dont need to register..

  • @Gary McCray Good summary....

    From my discussions with the FAA it's not only safety, but what I call hazard mitigation--in other terms, how should the insurance structure be set up...and that is tightly coupled to accountability. The AMA insurance structure doesn't fit the world of [urban] drones (even hobby drones in your backyard). Once an insurance structure is established, we all can fly--but that could result in a. registration, licensing, equipment certification, etc... This is how it works in the manned arena, they know accidents will happen and the insurance structure supports that fact (even MH370 had a 'procedure' for victims to leverage via insurance claims). One has to ask: is registration a good 1st step in addressing insurance/hazard mitigation issue?

  • Who came up with the 1 million drone sales forecast? How many were sold last holiday season?

  • Yeah, I don't think so. Good luck enforcing this. Also its hilarious that if my quadcopter shot bullets instead of photos this would have never come up.

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