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Drone Pilots In China Have to Register With the Government (engadget.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the safety-concerns dept.

China's Civil Aviation Authority has announced that drone pilots will be required to register any unmanned aerial vehicle heavier than 0.55 pounds with the government starting on June 1st. "Online registration will open up on May 18th, and the government will start publishing no-fly zone data for civilian airports on the same day," reports Engadget. From the report: The initiative will also see regulators working with local government and police to curb drone interference, and will eventually standardize commercial drone use with four main categories: aerial photography, agricultural use, aviation photography and license training. The country already recognizes over 200 training outlets that have issued over 14,000 certificates so far, so some of this standardization would really just expand on what's already happening. It's hard to escape concerns that this will help the government crack down on drone pilots for spurious reasons, such as when they record protests or questionable government activities. However, the registration officially comes as a response to a mounting number of safety incidents involving drones at airports. Authorities note that Chengdu alone saw eight examples of drone interference since April, six of which grounded 138 flights. If those sorts of figures are applicable elsewhere, that's a lot hassle and potential danger.

7 of 58 comments (clear)

  1. 0.55 pounds by ls671 · · Score: 2

    China's Civil Aviation Authority has announced that drone pilots will be required to register any unmanned aerial vehicle heavier than 0.55 pounds with the government starting on June 1st.

    Hmm... Ok, sounds like 250 grams.

    --
    Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
    1. Re: 0.55 pounds by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 2

      Don't worry, I'm quite sure that the people intent on building flying bombs will not get stopped by such pesky administrative problems as their flying bombs being somewhat bigger than that the legal limit.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    2. Re:0.55 pounds by jandersen · · Score: 2

      Well, according to this: http://o.canada.com/business/i..., the a gram of cocaine is $480 in New Zealand, whereas a gram of marijuana is $10 - $15 in Canada. I hope this explains things for you.

    3. Re: 0.55 pounds by Z00L00K · · Score: 2

      Is that local dollars, Zimbabwe dollars or US dollars?

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    4. Re: 0.55 pounds by stooo · · Score: 2

      >> Is that local dollars, Zimbabwe dollars or US dollars?
      The currency here is not the dollar, but the gram of Cocaine or Marijuana, so the correct question is :

      "is that local drug, or where is it from ?"

      --
      aaaaaaa
  2. Re:Isn't it the same in most countrie? by Mondragon · · Score: 2

    Yes this is exactly the same in most countries - china is even later than the US, which was *super late* in this kind of regulation. The USA has an identical regulation for 250g to 25Kg (over 25Kg requires licensing, not just registration).

    I for one am not that thrilled about drones that have a mass of 20Kg only needing registration....

  3. Re:/. hypocrisy by Mondragon · · Score: 2

    Lovely meaningless diatribe.

    The US already has this exact regulation, and has had it for over a year. This is a non-story, other than China is coming into alignment with the EU and US on drone policy (where the EU was long before the US).