Task force to hammer out drone registration guidelines

The Federal Aviation Administration announced the members of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Registration Task Force that will meet formally from Nov. 3-5 to develop recommendations for a streamlined registration process and minimum requirements for UAS registration.

This task force will provide recommendations on the type of registration platform needed to accommodate small UAS, and on whether it is appropriate for the FAA to continue to exercise discretion with respect to requiring registration of certain UAS based on their weight and performance capabilities.

The FAA is requesting suggestions from the public in a number of areas, including clarification on the types of data collected, the feasibility of web-based registration, where the information should be stored and whether fees should be collected.

Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Fox set a deadline of Nov. 20 for the task force to finalize its recommendations. Given the short deadline and the expected boom in holiday sales of unmanned aircraft, DOT and FAA officials will move quickly to consider and establish the recommendations.

The 25-member task force includes representatives from a number of aviation associations as well as from Amazon Prime Air, GoogleX and Walmart, which have expressed interest in drone delivery systems.