FAA Small Unmanned Aircraft Registration

1. Registration Begins from 21 Dec 2015

         The Aviation Rulemaking Committee's (ARC) Unmanned Aircraft System Registration Task Force (RTF) constituted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released the Task Force Recommendation Final Report on 21 Nov 2015. [Ref 1]. 

         Based on the RTF report, FAA has introduced statutory requirement that all small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) weighing more than 0.55 pounds (250 grams) and less than 55 pounds (approx. 25 kilograms), including payloads such as on-board cameras, must be registered if it is to be operated outdoor in the National Air Space (NAS). The registry is live from the day on December 21. Registration is free for the first 30 days (up to 19 Feb 2016) and then $5.

       

2. What the Registration Mean 

           The registration could be web based or paper based. In preparation for registering online, each owner must provide his or her name, home address and e-mail address. Owners wishing to Register themselves as sUAS operator must be at least 13 years of age. Information on US citizenship or residence status is not asked. Upon completion of registration, the web application will generate a Certificate of Aircraft Registration/Proof of Ownership that will include a unique identification number for the UAS owner, which must be marked on the aircraft. 

          Owners using model aircraft or sUAS for hobby or recreation will only have to register once and may use the same identification number for all their model aircraft. The registration is valid for three years. Owners of any other UAS purchased after December 21 must register before the first flight outdoor. The same rule apply for model aircraft assembled from purchased kits. The registration is for each operator and not for each small UAS they possess.  

          The above statute indicates that a model aircraft or sUAS need not be registered at the Point of Sale (POS), however the operator must register himself if he wants to fly the aircraft.

3. Operating Rules

        Operator must mark his registration number or the serial number on all the aircraft he wishes to operate. If he has provided the aircraft serial number during registration process, he may display the same number on the aircraft. FAA has partnered with several industry associations to educate the public about using unmanned aircraft and model aircraft safely and responsively. The general operating and flight safety rules are:

    a)  Flight altitude limited to 400 feet above ground level (AGL).
    b)  Visual flight rules: Keep your unmanned aircraft always in sight. 
    c)  Never fly near manned aircraft, especially near airports.
    d) Never fly over group of people, stadium or sporting events. 
    e) Never fly near emergency response/evacuation efforts. 

4. FAA Rule Making Effort

           Department of Transportation (DoT), FAA's Federal Register Vol. 80 Sl. No. 35, No. 9544  'Operation and Certification of small UAS' was released on 23 Feb 2015 as notice to public for rule making (NPRM) [Ref 2]. The above proposed rule addresses operation of UAS, certification of their operator, registration and display of the registration marking on the aircraft.  

          The proposed rule would also find that airworthiness certification of sUAS is not required. The proposed rule would also prohibit model aircraft from endangering the safety of the National Air Space. 

5.  ARC UAS Registration Task Force (RTF) Recommendation

          FAA charted the UAS Registration Task Force of Aviation Rulemaking Committee to provide recommendation to FAA "On Registration Requirement and Process for small UAS including those used for commercial purposes, and all model aircraft". The stated objectives of the Task Force was to develop recommendations which ultimately would contribute to an enforceable rule imposed by FAA.

        The task force was comprised of individuals from a diverse group of aviation and non aviation perspectives (25 different groups from industry, commercial and business sectors, aircraft operators, aircraft pilots, academia, regulatory as well as government officials). The task forces met to discuss the three main objectives as the terms of reference set forth by FAA during 03 to 05 November 2015.  From these discussions, the task force developed high level recommendations for sUAS registration requirements that addresses the questions posed by FAA.

5.1 Min Weight UAS that Need to be Registered

         The safety of non-flying public and other users of the NAS was central to the task force's determination of what category of sUAS be excluded form the registration requirements. The formula considered was a standard aviation risk assessment formula used in consideration in manned aircraft. It was noted from a United Kingdom Ministry of Defence 2010 study that an object with kinetic energy level of 80 Joules (approximately 59 foot pound) has a 30% probability of being lethal when striking a person on the head. 

       The terminal velocity of an object falling from a height 400 feet can be estimated assuming that the net acceleration of the body will be due to acceleration due to gravity reduced by the body drag. The drag force acting on the body during the fall of the body will be a function of shape and velocity of the body at the instant. The task force considered a typical sUAS of projected area of 0.02 m >2 and and drag coefficient of 0.3. Solving for mass and velocity for a body to impact with a Kinetic Energy of 80 Joules, works out weight 250 grams and velocity of 25 m/sec or approximately 57 miles/hour. 

       The probability of such a lethal occurrences per UAS flight hours were estimated by the task force assuming the MTBF of UAS as 100 hours and population density of 10000 people per square miles. The probability of a catastrophic event was found to be 4.7 x 10 E-8 or less than 1 ground fatality for every 20,000,000 flight hours of UAS. 

        Considering that the acceptable risk levels for commercial air transportation are on the order of 1 x 10 E-9 and therefore this risk level of 4.7 x 10 E -8 seem acceptable to the task force. 

6. The UAS Certification 

In summary, it can be concluded that 

a) Unmanned aircraft weighing less than 250 gms requires neither certification of the product nor  registration of the operator. 

b) Unmanned aircraft weighing above 250 gms but less than 25 Kg needs no product certification but the operator who wishes to fly these aircraft must get himself registered with FAA.  

c) Unmanned aircraft weighing above 25 Kgs will be treated like manned aircraft as far as their airworthiness certification is concerned.

References:

1) http://www.faa/uas/publications/media/RTFARCFinalReport_11-21-15.pdf: "Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Registration Task Forces (RTF) Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) -Task Force Recommendation Final Report"; November 21, 2015.

2) 80 Federal Register 9544 dated 23 Feb 2015, "Operation and Certification of Small UAS"; DoT, FAA.