Rotor And Wing International | By: S.L. Fuller | May 23, 2017:
A U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., recently ruled that the FAA cannot require unmanned aircraft system (UAS) hobbyists to register their drones under a December 2015 rule.
No registration means no information and no efficient way to track hobby drones that pose a danger to other aircraft or the public. Without an up-to-date registry, the only way to catch an operator who just buzzed by a police helicopter with a drone may be to hope to catch the operator with the drone in hand.
The decision came as a result of a lawsuit against the FAA brought on by insurance lawyer, hobby drone builder and member of the D.C. Area Drone User Group, John Taylor. Taylor argued the registration requirement for hobbyists violated the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012.
The court agreed May 19, saying the act says the FAA “may not promulgate any rule or regulation regarding a model aircraft.” The 2015 Registration Rule is a “rule or regulation regarding a model aircraft,” Judge Brett Kavanaugh stated in the ruling for a three-judge panel of the court. “Statutory interpretation does not get much simpler. The Registration Rule is unlawful as applied to model aircraft.”
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