FAA sUAS Registration Task Force Recommendations Released

[Bartman]

Actual FAA document available here;

http://www.faa.gov/uas/publications/media/RTFARCFinalReport_11-21-15.pdf

Commentary at Forbes.com outlines the release
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johngog...e-unveils-drone-registration-recommendations/

In a much-anticipated public teleconference today, the co-chairs of the FAA’s unmanned aircraft system registration task force announced the task force’s recommendations of which drones should be registered and how the registration process should work. The specifics of these recommendations have been anxiously awaited by the drone community ever since the formation of the task force was announced in October. Hobby flyers have been particularly concerned as model aircraft have not previously been subject to any registration requirements. Currently, the FAA requires drones operated commercially and by public agencies (other than the military) to be registered the same as manned aircraft.

The task force announcement was made by the two joint chairs, Earl Lawrence, FAA’s recently appointed Director of UAS Integration, and David Vos, head of Google's GOOGL +0.34% Project Wing Program. Both Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Vos emphasized that the report was a consensus report with no dissenting opinions. The FAA and DOT will take the report and more than 4,500 public comments and draft a proposed rule. Both chairs emphasized that their is no finalized decision on the rule’s requirements.

The recommendations announced today can be found here. In summary, the task force recommends:

1. Drones between 250 grams (.55 pounds) and 55 pounds that are operated outdoors need to be registered
2. The registration is owner-based, so one number can apply to all the drones an owner has.
3. Registration will be mandatory at the time of operation and not the point of sale.
4. The owner’s name and street address will be mandatory (no P.O. Boxes). Other information, such as email address or cell phone number will be optional.
5. There is no citizenship requirement
6. Minimum age to register is 13.
7. No fee for registration.
8. Registration should be web-based.
9. A registration certificate will be mailed to the owner.
10. The registration number will need to be put on each drone.

It will be interesting to see how these recommendations are met by the drone community. There has already been much discussion as to the FAA’s authority to require drone owners to be registered as opposed to the aircraft themselves. The statute authorizing registration refers to aircraft, not people. It also remains unclear how registration will meet the FAA’s education concern. From what I can see, these recommendations do nothing to address the concerns raised by the FAA with regard to drone operations too close to manned aircraft.

 

[ProfEngr]

Ugh.

 

[Old Man]

Does anyone really think registration in and of itself would do anything to track user violators of airspace laws? Single user registration for multiple aircraft smacks of DHS user database development, not aviation safety.

I don't see registration as a bad thing, but I do have serious issues with it when lies are used for the decision making. We need to correct the problem of our politicians thinking they can lie to their constituents with impunity.

 

[ProfEngr]

And I can just guesstimate why DHS would want such a list.

 

[econfly]

This is so obviously useless that I have to think there is much more to follow.

 

[Old Man]

It cannot be otherwise. So many possible directions and power shifts are possible it's mind boggling. Incrementalism in action.

 

[MadMonkey]

On the plus side, now all you have to do to get someone in trouble is put their registration number on your aircraft then crash it into a control tower.

 

[Old Man]

Or a city impound or police dept parking lot. Oh wait, someone's already done that...

 

[ProfEngr]

Wonder what the penalties for "civil disobedience" are going to be.

 

[econfly]

I'll guess the penalties only matter if you screw up something in the first place, and then they won't matter because the screw up will be the main issue. For example, you crash an unregistered quad into a control tower, they somehow find out who you are, and then you are looking at major legal issues related to the crash itself. At that point the "unregistered" penalty will be relatively minor and thus ignored.

This is so much like gun control it's almost funny. Almost nobody gets prosecuted for "unregistered" or even banned stuff in states that require some form of registration and/or have heavy gun control for just these reasons. Why bother charging a hold-up suspect with a silly technicality when you have him cold for shooting a store clerk? In this way, only law-abiding non-criminals are affected by the laws and it's looking like the multi rotor world is going to be the same. Nobody with intent to cause a problem is going to register his drone first, and nobody caught causing problems is going to be penalized after the fact for technical stuff like a registration issue when bigger penalties exist for the actual act. This is all about controlling the rest of us and making the first step to even more control down the road.

 

[ProfEngr]

"We have to protect our phony bologna jobs!"
Ha'rumgh.

 

[MadMonkey]

"We have to protect our phony bologna jobs!"
Ha'rumgh.

I didn't get a harrumph outta that guy....

 

[Old Man]

I'll guess the penalties only matter if you screw up something in the first place, and then they won't matter because the screw up will be the main issue. For example, you crash an unregistered quad into a control tower, they somehow find out who you are, and then you are looking at major legal issues related to the crash itself. At that point the "unregistered" penalty will be relatively minor and thus ignored.

This is so much like gun control it's almost funny. Almost nobody gets prosecuted for "unregistered" or even banned stuff in states that require some form of registration and/or have heavy gun control for just these reasons. Why bother charging a hold-up suspect with a silly technicality when you have him cold for shooting a store clerk? In this way, only law-abiding non-criminals are affected by the laws and it's looking like the multi rotor world is going to be the same. Nobody with intent to cause a problem is going to register his drone first, and nobody caught causing problems is going to be penalized after the fact for technical stuff like a registration issue when bigger penalties exist for the actual act. This is all about controlling the rest of us and making the first step to even more control down the road.

It's called "social engineering". Our government has been using the elementary schools to this end for a long time now.