The Federal Aviation Administration is putting the final touches on a new system that would require drone users to register with the federal government.
For more than a month, the FAA has been working with a task force to create a registration system for drones. It comes after an increase in the number of pilots around the country who have reported seeing drones during flights.
"One day, I was flying close by the airport," said Nicolo Fatai, a flight instructor with Skymates Flight Academy in Arlington. "I was approaching the runway for my initial descent. I saw something that looked like a bird. Eventually we flew right next to it, and it was a drone."
Nicolo said he was about 1,000 feet above the ground at the time.
Fellow flight instructor Ryan Blum said other pilots have had similar experiences.
"As were trying to climb," he said, "we were close to the ground, about 500 feet up, we get reports of drones and it's usually unauthorized activity."
Both instructors say drones can be not only distracting but dangerous.
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"If you hit a drone at our speed, it could basically be like a bullet," Fatai said. "It could damage the aircraft."
The two use small single-engine planes to teach their students, and the windshields are plastic.
"It could also damage the wing," Blum said. "And also, there's open access to the engine, so if it hits the propeller, it can do a lot of damage to our performance."
Blum said severe damage to the plane's engine could force the plan to make an emergency landing someplace other than the airport.
"If you have to put the plane down, it's dangerous for us, but it could also be dangerous to people on the ground as well," he said.
The new FAA regulations are expected to be released Saturday.
