SEATTLE — The buzz of drones, or unmanned aircraft systems, will be a lot more common after Christmas morning.
Starting Monday, all drones must be registered with the Federal Aviation Administration. But day one of the new law came with big problems with the FAA registration website.
As of 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time, the FAA registration website was still not up and working.
An FAA spokesperson told KIRO 7 that the website was being updated even though it had never gone live. It went live around noon.
When it is working you'll give your name, physical address, and email address. You'll then immediately get an email with your registration number and certificate to download. You must mark the registration number on your drone and have that certificate on you when flying outdoors. That includes everyone who opens one as a gift on Christmas morning.
"We let everyone know that purchases a drone from us that it has to be registered," said James Older, manager of Drones Plus in Bellevue, who has flown drones for four years and used to build his own.
If your drone weighs .55 pounds or 250 gram you don't have to register it. But anything weighing more than .55 pounds that you fly outside you do have to register.
Anyone getting a drone after Dec. 21 must register before the first flight. Owners who bought their drone before Dec. 21 have 60 days to register.
Older thinks most people who fly drones will comply. And he thinks it will stop people from incidents like the guy who was cited for flying a drone near a crowd of people on top of the Space Needle.
"I think it's going to slow some people down and not take that risk," said Older.
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