20 Oct 2015

US drone owners to register in bid to stop rogue flights

4:52 pm on 20 October 2015

The Obama administration says it will require US drone owners to register their unmanned aircraft, in a bid to curtail rogue drone flights.

The drones pose a danger to commercial aircraft and crowded public venues.

A new task force will craft recommendations to establish the first ever federal drone registry, aimed at identifying drone operators.

Administration officials hope to have the registry in place before Christmas when, they say, more than a million new drones could be given as gifts to new untrained operators.

More than 650 unauthorized drone sightings were reported in the first eight months of this year compared with 238 for all of 2014.