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More than 45,000 drone owners have already registered with the FAA

It looks like the threat of a massive fine and potential prison time was enough to convince more than 45,000 American drone owners to register with the FAA after just two days of opening the mandatory registration, not to mention the fact that it’s free for the first thirty days. If the FAA’s numbers are correct, that would mean that more than 10% of the drone owners in the United States have already registered, while the other 90% have until February 19th to register or else risk facing the aforementioned penalties. The number of drone owners in the United States is expected to nearly double over the holidays, and people who acquire a drone from this point forward will need to register before their first flight.

It’s barely been 48 hours since the Federal Aviation Administration has opened mandatory registration for drone owners—and over 45,000 owners have already been registered. The FAA wants to know about your drones, so it opened up the registration period on Monday. The agency requires anyone operating an UAV weighing between 250 grams and 55 pounds to be registered with the agency. It costs $5 a pop, but for these first 30 days, that fee will be waived. Based on today’s FAA update, tens of thousands of hobbyists are taking advantage of that deal. The question is: Is 45,000 a lot? On one hand, no, not really. There are still who-knows-how-many unregistered pilots hovering drones around the nation—and don’t forget how many drones are expected to be sold this holiday season, and the new pilots buying them that’ll need registration. In its press release today, the FAA put that number of drones in the ballpark of 400,000. So 45,000 is barely ten percent, if you’re assuming one UAV per owner. But, on the other hand, 45,000 is a crap ton of drones! And who knows how many folks out there own multiple drones? Take a moment to visualize an armada of at least 45,000 flying machines zeroing in on you like a flock of giant metallic killer bees. Even if the number is relatively small, 45,000 drones—equal to the population of many small cities—sounds like a big amount.

What do you think?

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Written by Rocco Penn

A tech blogger, social media analyst, and general promoter of all things positive in the world. "Bring it. I'm ready." Find me on Media Caffeine, Twitter, and Facebook.

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