FAA announces drone registration rules as report highlights soaring dangers
The online registration would apply to owners of small drones weighing
more than 0.55 pounds and less than 55 pounds, including payloads such as on-board cameras, according to a statement by the FAA.
So if you have a 9 ounce drone of a beast you now must comply!
Silly, and unenforceable. Ban drones from anything but Class G airspace, call it a day. Find those who violate and then apply fines.
Glad mine is a micro, I guess. How are they classify things as drones I wonder?
The surface of nearly all small airports is class G…
From an early thread…
There are currently very clear rules on the non-commercial use of drones, aka small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Commercial sUAS operations are handled under other rules). For example, stay under 400 feet, generally not within the vicinity of an airport, no closer than 500 feet of non-participating people and structures, maintain visual contact with unaided eye other than eye glasses and sun glasses. (I know I’m simplifying some of the rules, so bear with me on this 
I agree there is little value to enforcement. There just aren’t enough FAA “police”. And, the local police aren’t always keen on enforcing FAA rules I’m not even sure local police have jurisdiction in the air. There is a long-standing ruling that local laws cannot regulate the airspace.
So, that leaves placing blame when something bad happens. If I’ve properly registered myself as an operator and properly labeled my sUAS and then I impact an aircraft or fall out of the sky onto people, then there is a record of who to arrest. I realize this whole scenario depends on someone labeling their sUAS before doing something illegal.
-Jonathan
While these rules only apply to drones within a certain weight range, drones are any aircraft controlled remotely, generally from the ground. That means even those “fly around in circles on a wire” craft fall under these rules!
I guess my paper airplane is exempt from registration, but I must register to fly my shark helium balloon outdoors (before it gets swept away)!
-Jonathan
I think this is a mechanism that is intended to be a tool for police and the FAA…
If you have a license and are doing something dumb, the FAA can find you and take action, especially if they have the drone.
If you don’t have a license and the cops get involved, they can work with the FAA to levy a gigantic fine. I think it’s more like the sword of Damocles than a real registration program.
@DanielHooper, I generally agree. In particular, I see the registration as a way to identify the operator to levy the fine. They can already levy the gigantic fine, even without the registration.
I’ll risk wading into political territory by pointing out the fines today are in place to combat perceived threats of terrorism so might be a bit blunt for use with the neighborhood kid flying over people. But, perhaps the risk of injury is greater from having a drone drop on my head!
jb
I disagree… I think they are in place because of the catastrophic consequences of interfering with manned aircraft.
If you file some FOIA requests, I bet you can find some study somewhere that says that 0.55 lb is enough to cause significant damage to an aircraft going 200kts.
Don’t need to file foia, bird strike, many larger the half a pound happen all the time.
If the license is to allow them to "find’ you, then how will they be able to find you to fine you if you don’t have a license?
That does not mean that the engine still doesn’t FOD out or sustain damage, just means it’s contained. But the pilot distraction even if there is no strike is a major problem.
Yep, but that frequently happens with bird strikes as well. Particularly considering many birds fly in flocks.
Unfortunately you can’t legislate birds away from airports, because they can and do cause extensive damage. I nearly got one in the face this summer, but fortunately it turned out just to be a plastic bag at 2,500ft!
Actually they could. But the massive slaughter of flying creatures would likely upset some people.
Well, uh, they do try to keep birds away… but short of killing all birds, I don’t think so
I don’t have the document in front of me, so please look it up for the details. But, as I recall, the recommendation from the registration working group has a calculation related to the number of people expected to die from a malfunctioning drone weighing 0.55lb.
There wasn’t mention of damage or danger to other aircraft that I remember. But, I used to work on military aircraft and the damage from something as small as a screw was cause for concern. I’d expect a drone impacting a piloted aircraft could do some damage, but I don’t know of any studies or experiments on that point.
jb
I once had an encounter with a Mylar balloon that had the additional impact of ATC offering suggested turns to avoid collision, but the balloon wasn’t cooperating and kept moving unpredictably.
jb
What were you flying? A Zeppelin? haha