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On December 21, the FAA announced its new web-based system to register drones. Four days later, the administration said “D.C. and cities and towns within a 30-mile radius of Ronald-Reagan Washington National Airport are a No Drone Zone.”
The 30-mile radius adds 15 miles to D.C.’s previous ban. Merry Christmas, drone hobbyists?
The airspace around Washington, D.C. is more restricted than in any other part of the country. Rules put in place after the 9/11 attacks establish “national defense airspace” over the area and limit aircraft operations to those with an FAA and Transportation Security Administration authorization. Violators face stiff fines and criminal penalties.
WUSA9 first reported on the extension of the ban.
The notice means that the Capital Area Soaring Association (CASA) and all other hobbyist parks within 30-miles of the city are shut down, hobbyist Cyrrus Phillips told WUSA9.
CASA’s coordinator Dom Perez posted an email to the association’s members from the Academy of Model Aeronautics’ vice president Jay Marsh. “You will not need to close the field, only cease operations temporarily, no flying of anything,” Marsh wrote, adding that by mid-January he expects to get permission from the FAA to continue operations for all fields.
The FAA launched an awareness effort on May 15 to educated the public about the D.C.-area’s “No Drone Zone.” On May 16, a man was arrested for trying to fly a drone over the White House fence.
Most recently, the National Park Police cited a visitor on Dec. 16 for flying a drone on the grounds of the Washington Monument. 16. It was the tenth recorded incident this year of an illegal drone flight in a Washington-area national park.
