Provides Opening Remarks Of First Meeting Of Registration Task Force

At the opening of the first meeting of the FAA's UAV registration task force, Administrator Michael Huerta said the agency must work harder to ensure a strong culture of safety and responsibility among unmanned aircraft enthusiasts.

And while he said there is no single path towards reaching that goal, one of the tools the agency will use is registration.

"Unmanned aircraft have countless potential uses – from package delivery to tasks that are dangerous for people or manned aircraft to perform," Huerta said in his prepared remarks. "No one wants to see this promising technology overshadowed by an incident or accident that could easily be avoided with proper training and awareness of the safety principles that are now second nature in manned aviation."

Huerta said that the charge of the task force is to provide guidance on important questions about registration of aircraft under 55 pounds, including:

• How do we make registration as easy as possible for consumers while providing accountability?
• What products should we exclude from registration based on weight, speed, altitude and flying time?
• What information should we collect during the registration process, and what should we do with the data?
• Should every unmanned aircraft sold have its own serial number, or how to tie particular aircraft to a particular user?
• Should the process include a formal education component before an aircraft can be registered?
• Should registration be retroactive and apply to unmanned aircraft that are now in the system?
• Should there be an age requirement for registration?

He said the task force's recommendations will be "invaluable as the FAA moves quickly to stand up this new system."

"Registration will give us an opportunity to educate new operators about airspace rules so they can use their unmanned aircraft safely. It will also help us more easily identify and take enforcement action against people who intentionally violate the rules or operate unsafely," Huerta said. "A perfect example of this occurred last week, when a drone carrying mobile phones, drugs and hacksaw blades crashed into a prison yard in Oklahoma. Perhaps registration would have helped authorities quickly identify the owner.

"We realize that most people want to use their aircraft safely for enjoyment. Registration benefits users and the government alike because it encourages education while providing a mechanism for helping the FAA fulfill its mission of keeping the nation’s skies safe."

But Huerta said that just because the agency wants to make registration simple, it will not be putting the brakes on enforcement.

Finally, Huerta encouraged the task force members to "think big, and outside the box. Take the interests of all stakeholders, of everyone who will be affected by registration, into consideration, and you need to factor that into your conversations and deliberations. And please – do not worry about achieving perfection. Your ideas will enable us to lay the groundwork for registration, but by no means is it the last word on registration."

Transportation Secretary Foxx has set a deadline of November 20 for the task force to complete its work. The industry estimates that some 700,000 new UAVs could be in the hand of consumers by the time the holiday season ends.

(Images from file)

FMI: Full Remarks