The FAA said on Tuesday 45,000 drones were registered in the first day of the online registry, and the site will be taken down overnight tonight for site maintenance, in anticipation of an expected rush of registrants on Christmas Day. “While an overwhelming number of people have successfully registered, we have received reports from a small number of users of performance issues,” the FAA said. The registry will be offline from 9 p.m. Eastern tonight until 6 a.m. tomorrow. As many as 400,000 drones are expected to be given as Christmas gifts on Friday, the FAA said.
A reviewer at PCWorld said he registered online Monday and it only took a few minutes, and the system was “ridiculously easy to use.” Others posted complaints online about glitches: According to newson6 in Oklahoma, one person posted, “Upon completing and hitting submit, I was emailed someone else’s registration … Sorry, Justin, maybe you got mine.” Another person posted, “It told me my registration was complete and gave me a link for ‘my’ registration. But the certificate has someone else’s name on it … that person’s complete name and address.”
The Academy of Model Aeronautics warned its members on Wednesday to be on the lookout for fake websites. “These sites are scamming model pilots to register in an attempt to steal personal and credit card information. Many of these fake sites look credible or appear to belong to the FAA,” the AMA said on Facebook. The AMA has asked its members to hold off on registering, while they continue “to pursue legal and political remedies to address the registration requirement.”
