To address safety concerns, with a growing number of unauthorized flights, and a surge in incidents, the United States administration is considering making registration mandatory for drone owners. A committee has been investigating other solutions as well, such as the possibility to track and detect unusual aircraft behavior, with advanced technology.
In the near future though, a registration process sounds like the most likely and cost effective form of regulation to see the light of day. Now, the question is, will all drones be subject to registration? With drones being made more widely available and less expensive, they've entered into more and more households, as toys for children, travel companions and more.
Drones used in leisure activity represents a growing share of the market, everywhere around the world. Even if drones can still be associated with war and threat, which is how they were originally perceived by the public, they are gradually being associated with other adjectives, like commonplace and harmless. But is it really the case?
With predictions saying that the number of drones in the United States, by 2010, will exceed 7 millions, drones are most certainly becoming commonplace, but can they really be considered that innocent? How is it possible to differentiate a hobbyist purchase from a malicious plot?
However, even if one were to support the registration rulings, another figure sounds alarming, the fact that, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (U.S. Department of Transportation), only one third of drones are accounted for. To come that conclusion, they simply did the math and compared the number of drones sold during the holiday season in 2015 and the number of drone registrations. Overwhelming to say the least.
So, with that context mind, what kind of changes can the FAA introduce to better control drone registration? But also, where will the independent committee appointed by the government draw the line? Will it target private flyers, focus on regulating commercial use, fight criminal use or even governmental use?
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