Drone registry Regulators have released long-awaited recommendations for small drones that will require registration for all but the very smallest devices. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Registration Task Force Aviation Rulemaking Committee determined that aircraft weighing less than 250 grams (.55 pounds) do not need to be registered. Users operating devices between 250 grams and 55 pounds, on the other hand, must register. To ease the registration burden for individuals with multiple aircraft, the task force recommended that users register one time only, regardless of the number of aircraft they own or operate. (Drones larger that 55 pounds cannot be operated without a license.) The size threshold means virtually all UAS hobbyists will be required to register. “At a little over a half-pound, this will sweep up all but the smallest toys,” Mark McKinnon noted on the blog “Plane-ly Spoken,” which is associated with the global law firm Denton that works in the aviation and unmanned aircraft sector. The FAA formed the task force of public and private stakeholders to address increasingly common close encounters between large aircraft and small, privately owned drone aircraft. According to the report, the goal of the registry is to increase “accountability […]
