The FAA reminds owners to register their drones

TechFreedom’s lawsuit is the second to be filed since the new regulation was instated, the first coming from a Colorado-based drone hobbyist asking that the court overturn the FAA’s claimed authority to regulate recreational drone use. You have to provide your name, physical address and email address and the process costs $5. If you are caught, the FAA says you could face a civil penalty of up to $27,500, a criminal fine of up to $250,000 and imprisonment for up to three years. Drones must be marked with the registration number before they can be operated.

If you have an unregistered drone, or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), you have until midnight, east coast time, on Friday, February 19 to register. Pilot reports of drone sightings so far this year are more than double last year, the Federal Aviation Administration reported Thursday.

The federal agency opened the online drone registration period December 21.

Meanwhile, the FAA has faced challenges to its drone registration requirement.

This applies to owners of all remote controlled aircraft that weigh at least 9 ounces even if it’s a drone you might consider “just a toy”.

“In my opinion, the bottom line of registering these drones is nearly useless”, said aviation consultant Denny Kelly.

The deadline for everyone to register their drone with the FAA is quickly approaching, and failing to do so could mean heavy penalties.