UAS Registration Task Force Still Working on Recommendation to the FAA

After three days of meetings, the FAA’s UAS Registration Task Force has yet to reach a decision as to what to recommend to the FAA regarding the registration process for UASs.  Recommendations are to be delivered to the FAA by November 20th.

Reports thus far suggest that owners of small unmanned aerial vehicles will likely have to sign up on a website or use a smartphone app and put a visible registration number on their drone.[1] The current registration process requires the completion of a paper application.  If the Task Force’s recommendations are approved by the FAA, a digital alternative to the paper process would become available to the owners of the aircraft.

U.S. aviation regulators who expect to begin implementing registration in December, say a registry would help authorities combat a surge in rogue drone flights near airports and other public sites.[2] The flights have raised concerns about safety and security risks, including possible collisions with commercial aircraft.[3]

David Vos, the leader for Google’s Project Wing and co-chairman of the task force, told a conference this week that registration should be seen as the first step toward incorporating drones into U.S. airspace. He predicted that other steps, including air traffic control systems for low-altitude drone flights, could follow within the next 12 months.[4]

[1] Yahoo News!, U.S. Task Force Expected to Recommend Drone Registry be Free, (November 6, 2015, 9:38 PM), http://news.yahoo.com/u-task-force-expected-recommend-drone-registry-free-023851734.html.

[2] Newsmax, Task Force Expected to Recommend Drone Registry be Free, (November 6, 2015, 9:32 PM), http://www.newsmax.com/US/drone-registry-free/2015/11/06/id/701013/.

[3] Id.

[4] Id.