TRAVERSE CITY – Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) created a Federal Task Force to develop a registry for recreational drones.  To date, the FAA has divided the drone community into two parts.  “Recreational users” are drone operators whose aircrafts which meet the following statutory requirements:

The aircraft is flown strictly for hobby or recreational use;

  • the aircraft is operated in accordance with a community-based set of safety guidelines and within the programming of a nationwide community-based organization;
  • the aircraft is limited to not more than 55 pounds unless otherwise certified through a design, construction, inspection, flight test, and operational safety program administered by a community-based organization;
  • the aircraft is operated in a manner that does not interfere with and gives way to any manned aircraft; and
  • when flown within 5 miles of an airport, the operator of the aircraft provides the airport operator and the airport air traffic control tower … with prior notice of the operation….

P.L. 112-95, section 336(a)(1)-(5).

The second category of drone operators are “commercial operators,” those who derive some commercial benefit from their drone use.  Because the FAA defines drone as an “aircraft”, the FAA has asserted jurisdiction over drones flying in the National Air Space (NAS).  Commercial drones can only be operated under a Section 333 Exemption [linking to https://www.dronelaw.pro/category/section-333-petitions/] from the FAA; essentially permission from the FAA to fly a drone for business.  That process takes months to complete.  One of the Section 333 requirements is that commercial drone operators register their aircraft with the FAA, similar to all other fixed wing or all other manned aircraft.

Because of the much reported incidents of drones flying “too close” to airports and manned aircraft, the FAA is in emergency mode.  Their attempted solution to this problem, which they attribute primarily to recreational users who really don’t understand the rules, is to require recreational drone operators to register their aircraft with the FAA under threat of large fines and criminal penalties for failing to register.

Somewhere between 25-30 individuals representing various stakeholders from government and industry are expected to form the task force, and at the press conference Foxx was joined by representatives from the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), the Academy of Model Aircraft (AMA), the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the American Association of Airport Executives, Helicopter Association International, PrecisionHawk, AirMap/Small UAV Coalition, and the Consumer Electronics Association. At the time of publication, the DOT had not yet released a full list of task force members.   The Task Force is supposed to come up with recommendations by November 20th.  However, some serious questions remain:

  1. The FAA had trouble coming up with workable commercial drone regulations after over 7 years of work. How does the FAA expect to solve the complex issues of recreational drone registration in less than two months?
  2. Requiring consumers to provide personal identifiable information likely including full legal name, address and contact information in an age where the government is under constant threat of hacking si concerning. And what else can the FAA do with this private consumer information?
  3. Many recreational drones are no more than toys, which can’t fly far or high. What is the criteria which triggers a registration requirement?
  4. The FAA can barely handle the already required commercial drone registrations at this point, which represents thousands of commercial users, rather than the hundreds of thousands of recreational drones expected to be sold in the near term. The FAA is still working off a carbon copy paper process, which requires original documentation and signatures.  There is no online system, and no digital information is allowed.  This archaic system is using 1980’s process and technology.
  5. The number of recreational drones expected to be purchased this Christmas, let alone over the next few years, is in the hundreds of thousands if not millions of units. Many of those drones won’t last long with novice users.  Is registration really worth it?
  6. How will the FAA get recreational drone operators to register their existing drones?
  7. Does registration of recreational drones solve the fundamental issue the FAA is trying to address, which is educating recreational drone users to fly safely in the NAS.
  8. Will the FAA be using this information to send emails or mailings to consumers to educate them about safe flight, including prohibitions on flying near airports, over stadiums or at altitudes which interfere with manned flight traffic. And what would the cost of such an educational effort involve?
  9. If the FAA intends on forcing consumers to register their drones at point of sale, several jurisdictional issues arise. The FAA has no jurisdiction over drones until they enter the NAS, and even that authority is subject to debate.  The FAA has no jurisdiction or authority over drone manufacturers.
  10. Are drones under 10 lbs really a significant risk to manned aircraft? Or is this media driven overkill; yet another attempt to solve a problem which really doesn’t exist?

Many people in the drone community believe this latest attempt by the FAA to get a handle on both drone and unmanned aerial vehicle use faces huge obstacles and delays.  Many countries are ahead of the United States in their efforts to integrate drones into their air space.  The tremendous benefit offered by drones to do dangerous jobs and reduce the cost and accuracy of inspections, provide search and rescue, collect data and many other activities has many of the companies in the U.S. “chomping at the bit”.  The innovation that could be occurring as a result of safe drone operations, commercial and recreational, is pushing hard against the FAA’s inability to come up with workable solutions to integrating drones into our skis.

Schaefer will appear on the Internet Advisor Radio Show on WJR 760 AM in Detroit Saturday from 4 to 5 pm. This show is syndicated on the Michigan Talk Network in Grand Rapids, Lansing, Kalamazoo and Muskegon.

For more information about the Federal Taskforce, click on https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/federal-regulators-to-require-registration-of-recreational-drones/2015/10/19/434961be-7664-11e5-a958-d889faf561dc_story.html

This column was written by Drone Attorney Enrico Schaefer. You can reach Schaefer at  www.dronelaw.pro