Soon to take effect, the US government is ordering drone owners in the US display their registration drone ID numbers to make it easier to track the owner.
The order was published two days ago on Feb 12 at the Federal Register. It will take effect on February 23rd. So, right now you have a little over a week to make your registration visible on your drone.
Up until this point, owners were allowed to put their registration numbers inside the battery compartments of their drones. That was mandated back in 2015. Four years later, with this is the latest change, the ID numbers need to be visible without
Why is the being implemented?
The FAA says this tweak to the law was implemented because it is responding to safety concerns. “ … regarding the risk a concealed explosive device poses to first responders who must open a compartment to find the small unmanned aircraft’s registration number,” says the FAA.
FFA is currently working on more drone regulations
We may be seeing more regulations from the FFA being implemented soon. Bloomberg reports the FAA is working on regulations that will require drones to broadcast a radio beacon. The beacon could be then read and identify both the drone’s owner and their location. Demands for this regulation have increased since the Gatwick Airport shutdown caused by drones, delaying over 100,000 customers’ flights. We are not sure when or if the regulation in that form with be implemented.
