Personal ownership and use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), commonly known as drones, has exploded in popularity in recent years. In fact, an estimated one million drones were gifted during the 2015 holiday season alone.
Naturally, this drastic increase in UAS ownership and operation, suited for outdoor use, has resulted in a large number of these aircrafts buzzing around neighborhoods and other public airspace. Each month over 100 incidents where drones are operating near airports and manned aircraft are reported. The newly prevalent UAS use and the results thereof have not gone unnoticed by Congress. By nature of their mobility, UAS inherently create safety and privacy challenges, and it has therefore been determined that UAS should be traceable through a registration process. Ideally, registration would not only implement an accountability element to drone ownership in the event of an incident, but would also promote the return of a person’s drone should it become lost.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is empowered by Congressional statute to regulate aircraft use. With this authority, Congress has enacted legislation requiring registration of all “aircraft,” which by definition includes UAS or drones costing over $100 and weighing over 0.55 pounds as aircraft – even when used by amateurs or collectors for merely recreational and hobbyist purposes. Drones most commonly used as toys typically cost under $100 and often weigh less than 0.55 pounds, thereby exempting them from the registration requirements. Although this legislation was effective as of December 2015, there is no exemption for UAS purchased prior to the enactment of the registration requirements. Practically speaking, registration should be completed before flying any non-exempt UAS outdoors, regardless of purchase date. Luckily for drone owners with multiple aircrafts, only one registration is required regardless of the number of UAS owned. Owners will be issued a unique registration number to be affixed to each of their UAS. In the event of a sale of one’s UAS, the number should be removed and the registration website should be updated by the seller.
Drone owners might initially be tempted to ignore the registration requirements, but the penalties for operating unregistered UAS are severe. The FAA may impose civil penalties up to $27,500.00 for registration violations, and the U.S. Attorney’s office can impose criminal penalties for imprisonment up to three years and criminal fines up to $250,000. Yes, unregistered use of that Christmas drone from the local retail store may be a felony! The benefits of registering one’s drone incredibly outweigh the potential civil and criminal consequences for refusing the registration process.
United States citizens who own a UAS for recreational or hobbyist use should take advantage of the drone online registration process. If the owner is not a United States citizen, if the owner is a business, or if the UAS weighs more than 55 pounds, this streamlined registration process is not available, but registration is still required. The registration card issued by the FAA following proper and completed registration must be on the person of the drone operator at all times when flying one’s drone.
As drones could potentially be considered “aircraft” in the future for other FAA regulations and associated laws, it will be interesting to see how the “aircraft” laws continually develop and whether or not it will affect drone owners.
By: R. Douglas Vaughn
dvaughn@deutschkerrigan.com