Yesterday Federal Aviation Administrator Michael Huerta and I announced the Department's new approach to creating a culture of accountability and responsibility among the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) community. As you might have heard, that approach will involve registering UAS.
This simple, common-sense approach has already garnered a lot of support in the community, including UAS associations, manufacturers of UAS technology, and for-profit UAS operators.
We fully appreciate the potential of UAS to transform transportation, commerce, and quality of life. In fact, unmanned aircraft are already performing important tasks like inspecting infrastructure and crops and monitoring wildlife. They are also being used by companies to help support lines of business.
But we've also seen unmanned aircraft interfering with public safety, most recently in California by disrupting critical wildfire operations. Some have come too close to airplanes and airports; the FAA receives reports every day of potentially unsafe UAS operations, and pilot sightings of UAS flying near manned aircraft have increased significantly since 2014. And, at this year's U.S. Open tennis tournament in September, a UAS crashed inside Arthur Ashe stadium during a match.
So, while we are committed to recognizing the potential of new technologies, we are obligated by the increasing volume of unsafe UAS activity to establish ground rules for their safe integration into our national transportation system.
The approach announced yesterday is a key step. People registering their drones will be exposed to the rules and the reasons for them, and this will help reduce unsafe activity. Registration also reinforces the need for unmanned aircraft users, including consumers and hobbyists, to operate safely or face enforcement action.
Clarifying that federal law requires the registration of all aircraft --including unmanned aircraft-- is a first order of business, and the FAA has posted its clarification in the Federal Register where it is available for public comment.
This week, the FAA will begin putting together the task force composed of 25 to 30 diverse representatives from the UAS and manned aviation industries, the federal government, and other stakeholders. The group will provide recommendations for a streamlined registration process that takes advantage of available technology to make it less burdensome for UAS operators. It will also advise the FAA on which aircraft should be exempt from registration due to lower safety risk, including toys and certain other small UAS.