A committee of government and industry representatives has offered recommendations to help the Federal Aviation Administration establish a registration process for civilian unmanned aircraft system operators, GCN reported Monday.Mark Pormerleau writes the UAS Registration Task Force Aviation Rulemaking Committee recommended that FAA exclude owners of drones that weigh less than .55 pounds from a registration requirement.
The panel also urged the agency to develop an online registry with an application programming interface for manufacturers or trade groups to directly register client or member information to an FAA-run database.
FAA should also issue certification to registered drone owners before the agency allows them to operate, as well as introduce an educational campaign similar to the public-private drone flight safety initiative Know Before You Fly, the committee added.
Transportation Department Secretary Anthony Foxx has said a UAS registration website could go live by Dec. 25, Pormerleau reports.
