This is a guest blog post from Crystal Ding from Outstanding Drone on the importance of drone registration with the FAA here in the U.S.
Drone Registration Required
Did you know that you ought to register your drone with the Federation Aviation Administration, FAA, to fly it in the US? With the regulations in place, you are subject to criminal and civil penalties when you fail to register your drone that weighs more 0.55 pounds. You must be at least 13 years old and it will set you back $5.
After this, it is a matter of flying to your heart’s desires, but you must ensure you follow the rules and regulation spelled out by the FAA. Up until recently, it was not mandatory for you to register your model aircrafts. With tougher laws in place, it is illegal to fly in your backyard without a license. Today, we look at the rules and regulations you need to adhere to and the process of registering your drone with the FAA.
The FAA is taking keen interest in all objects that take to the USA airspace, since they might cause a flight risk to commercial aircraft, military aircraft, as well as property and people on the ground. They are also keen in ensuring that they limit the chances of drones endangering the lives of US citizens and jeopardizing national security by taking inappropriate videos and photos. While you may be an innocent drone pilot excited about your new toy, flying in a no flight zone and worse still, if your drone is not registered you will face legal action. Registering your drone with the FAA will save you a lot of headaches.
* Enhancing Accountability
Registering your drone is also for accountability purposes, and it will keep you in check to stick to the agreed flight zones, and should the drone get into a no-flight zone, then you will save the FAA time and resources of hunting you down if you have not registered. Like it or not, accountability is essential. Up until 2015, drone pilots would have flown without any interference from the FAA but as soon as the regulations were put in place, more than 800,000 pilots registered.
The regulations were challenged in the court of appeal in the District of Colombia, where it cited the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, which was in favor of drone hobbyists flying their drones without need for registration. Professional pilots using drones for commercial purposes still had to register with the FAA. However, the National Defense Authorization Act brought back the regulations and it is now a requirement that you register a drone before flying it. After you get the registration number, FAA requires that you put the number on the drone preferably with a permanent marker.
For the full blog click here.
Note – If you liked this post click here to stay informed of all of the 3D laser scanning, geomatics, UAS, autonomous vehicle, Lidar News and more. If you have an informative 3D video that you would like us to promote, please forward to editor@lidarnews.com and if you would like to join the Younger Geospatial Professional movement click here.
