The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has revealed that nearly 300,000 drones have been registered in the US in the last 30 days.
All manner of remote control flying systems from toys to aerial cameras - civilian drones, are to be compulsorily registered in the US with effect from December 21. The pilots of any small unmanned aircraft weighing between 250g and 25kg must be aged 13 or older and all of them must be registered before being flown outdoors.
“The registration numbers we’re seeing so far are very encouraging. We’re working hard to build on this early momentum and ensure everyone understands the registration requirement,” FAA administrator Michael Huerta said.
While the online registration system is only open to recreational users, the owners who registered before 21 January had their $5 fee waived. All drones need to be clearly marked with their registration number and the drones must be registered every three years. For all those operators who operated a drone before 21 December must register before 19 February to continue legally flying it.
The need for safety and accountability has been highlighted by several high profile incidents involving drones. While in December last year a drone narrowly missed downhill skiing champion Marcel Hirscher on the slope in Italy, in May last year there were attempts to fly over the White House and one drone was flown towards the German chancellor Angela Merkel in 2013.
The entire process of registration is aimed to help prevent abuse and nuisance drones and the FAA has to be supplied with the name, address and email address of the owner as an important part of the registration process. At present the owner of a drone that is captured is difficult to trace. The process of registration would change this, the FAA hopes.
“The National Airspace System is a great resource and all users of it, including [unmanned aerial system] users, are responsible for keeping it safe,” US transportation secretary Anthony Foxx said.
By the end of 2015, it is expected that more than 1 million drones would have been sold in the US. This means that among the newly acquired drones only about one-third of them have been registered so far with the FAA.
The laws for flying drones in other countries are different. For example in the UK, it is illegal to fly a drone within 50 meters of a building or a person and 150 meters of a built-up area. It is also required by law that the drone has to remain in line of sight and within 500 meters of the pilot and the maximum flight height is 400 meters. however there is no legislation requiring registration of civil drones.
(Source:www.theguardian.com)
All manner of remote control flying systems from toys to aerial cameras - civilian drones, are to be compulsorily registered in the US with effect from December 21. The pilots of any small unmanned aircraft weighing between 250g and 25kg must be aged 13 or older and all of them must be registered before being flown outdoors.
“The registration numbers we’re seeing so far are very encouraging. We’re working hard to build on this early momentum and ensure everyone understands the registration requirement,” FAA administrator Michael Huerta said.
While the online registration system is only open to recreational users, the owners who registered before 21 January had their $5 fee waived. All drones need to be clearly marked with their registration number and the drones must be registered every three years. For all those operators who operated a drone before 21 December must register before 19 February to continue legally flying it.
The need for safety and accountability has been highlighted by several high profile incidents involving drones. While in December last year a drone narrowly missed downhill skiing champion Marcel Hirscher on the slope in Italy, in May last year there were attempts to fly over the White House and one drone was flown towards the German chancellor Angela Merkel in 2013.
The entire process of registration is aimed to help prevent abuse and nuisance drones and the FAA has to be supplied with the name, address and email address of the owner as an important part of the registration process. At present the owner of a drone that is captured is difficult to trace. The process of registration would change this, the FAA hopes.
“The National Airspace System is a great resource and all users of it, including [unmanned aerial system] users, are responsible for keeping it safe,” US transportation secretary Anthony Foxx said.
By the end of 2015, it is expected that more than 1 million drones would have been sold in the US. This means that among the newly acquired drones only about one-third of them have been registered so far with the FAA.
The laws for flying drones in other countries are different. For example in the UK, it is illegal to fly a drone within 50 meters of a building or a person and 150 meters of a built-up area. It is also required by law that the drone has to remain in line of sight and within 500 meters of the pilot and the maximum flight height is 400 meters. however there is no legislation requiring registration of civil drones.
(Source:www.theguardian.com)
