Cautious Drone Owners Not Happy About Having To Register Their Aircraft
ARVADA, Colo. (CBS4) - Drones and planes don't mix. That's why on Monday the Federal Aviation Administration announced owners will have to register their drones.
As drones explode in popularity, the FAA is trying to protect the skies by regulating the unmanned aircraft. Estimates are there could be a million drones in use by the end of the year in the U.S.
CBS4's Rick Sallinger visited a flying club in Arvada and found the news from the FAA isn't positive from drone owners who take great care to fly safely. But it's the others who somehow manage to get drones near planes that has led to government action.
Both commercial and recreational drones will have to be registered.
"Registration will help us to enforce the rules against those operate unsafely," Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx said.
At Denver International Airport seven incidents have been reported since the summer. It's just a small portion which CBS4 found on FAA records from around the country.
It certainly got the FAA's attention when a drone crashed at this year's U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York.
A no drone zone has been announced around DIA. It's 5 miles wide and above 400 feet altitude.
They sell all sizes and shapes of drones at Action Hobby in Lakewood. Owner Brad Weissenfels calls the registration plan ridiculous.
"To say somebody couldn't take something and do something stupid with it -- of course they could," Weissenfels said. "But registering everything that we do just because somebody could do something stupid with it? Well that's kind of a push."
Weissenfelss says birds are more of a threat to aircraft than a drone.
The FAA is forming a task force to determine exactly which types of drones will need to be registered.
