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FAA DOT Drone Registration Update

FAA DOT Drone Registration Update

by | Nov 14, 2015 | AMA National News

Dear members, I’m writing to provide you with an update on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s UAS registration task force. As you may be aware, the task force met for several days last week and AMA’s Rich Hanson represented our members’ interests in all of the discussions. We’re limited in how much we can divulge about these meetings because all task force members agreed to a set of ground rules. These rules prohibit us from publicly discussing any details of the task force’s internal deliberations. With that said, there has been some misinformation, as well as some inaccuracies surrounding this issue, so we want to provide you, our members, with as much information as we can while still respecting the integrity of the process. During the task force meetings, AMA strongly argued for our members to be exempt from federal registration, as Congress intended with the Special Rule for Model Aircraft in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. This special rule states that the FAA does not have the authority to promulgate any new rules on recreational users operating under the safety guidelines of a community-based organization such as AMA. AMA members have been flying safely for decades, and we made it clear that our members are not the problem. With our stellar safety record, AMA can be part of the solution, but our members shouldn’t have to bear the burden of new regulations. Meanwhile, as our members know, AMA already has in place its own voluntary registration system. For the new legions of consumer drone users who are not AMA members, we do think that registration...

Comment Now on FAA DOT Proposed UAS Registration

by | Nov 4, 2015 | AMA National News

You’re receiving this email because of your affiliation with the Academy of Model Aeronautics. Academy of Model Aeronautics Member Communication Thursday, October 29, 2015  By now, nearly everyone should be aware that the FAA and DOT are considering requiring registration of some sUAS and have created a task force to help develop that process. As part of these efforts, the DOT and FAA have asked for public input on the issue and have identified 10 questions in the document titled “Clarification of the Applicability of Aircraft Registration Requirements for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Request for Information Regarding Electronic Registration for UAS” that can be found atwww.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=FAA-2015-4378. AMA asks that its members review the questions and offer comments. The government website for this project is cumbersome and only allows a person to either type comments into a text box or to upload a file. To help, however, we are offering suggested comments to the questions we feel would impact our membership the most. Feel free to provide your own comments on the registration of model aircraft. We want the DOT to know your thoughts on registration, whether you think its beneficial and necessary to ensure for safe operation in the National Airspace System (NAS) or state any objections or limits you would have to a registration process. Discuss any concerns you might have or suggestions with establishing thresholds of who or what should be exempted from registration and what method of registration would you favor. If you prefer, you can paste these comments directly into the response box. It’s important that you submit your comments by November 6, 2015....
AMA’s Response to the U.S. DOT announcement

AMA’s Response to the U.S. DOT announcement

by | Oct 22, 2015 | AMA National News, District News, UAV

Source: The Washington Post Federal regulators to require registration of recreational drones Source: AMA Dear Members, As you might be aware, in a press conference on Monday October 19, 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced its intent to require registration for certain small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS). Led by Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, a concept was laid out calling for the creation of a task force to develop a plan to implement the registration process. AMA was represented at the press conference by Government and Regulatory Affairs Representative Rich Hanson who offered comments on behalf of our organization. Representatives from the Association for Unmanned Vehicles Systems International (AUVSI) and the Air Line Pilots Association also provided input. A video of the press conference can be found here. AMA has also been invited to participate in the task force which has been charged with completing its work by mid-November 2015. The DOT is looking at the full spectrum of sUAS that would be subject to registration, and AMA agrees that registration may be appropriate at some level; however, before the process can be established, AMA believes that a threshold must be identified that will determine which platforms, what aircraft with what capabilities, will require registration and which will not. AMA believes that traditional model aircraft, as well as the “toy-type” drones with minimal capability would fall below the threshold and not be subject to the registration process. In a prepared statement released yesterday, AMA was clear in its position that any required registration process “should not become a prohibitive burden for recreational users...